Education

May 27. 2012 8:45PM

Yellow Ribbon Project distributes cards to service members

By NANCY BEAN FOSTER
Union Leader Correspondent

With the help of her young students, Debbie Greeley, owner of The Greeley School in Wilton, makes sure service members never feel forgotten. (NANCY BEAN FOSTER)

Debbie Greeley, owner of The Greeley School in Wilton, displays the yellow ribbons that give the "Yellow Ribbon Project" its name. (NANCY BEAN FOSTER)

WILTON — On Memorial Day, Debbie Greeley will pack up her big sack of yellow ribbons and lug them to the town's annual parade with the hope of making sure the men and women currently serving overseas are not forgotten on this special day.

For two years, Greeley has been running the “Yellow Ribbon Project” out of The Greeley School in Wilton where she and her staff teach preschool and kindergarten. Twice a year, the kids who attend the school are enlisted to help make the days of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines just a little brighter.

With crayons and pencils the kids decorate cards for the troops who are currently serving abroad and the cards are sent out on Memorial Day and Christmas.

To help get the public involved on Memorial Day, Greeley and her group of volunteers make hundreds of yellow ribbons and attach them to the cards decorated by her little students. The cards are all addressed to members of the military.

Then, on Memorial Day, Greeley takes the cards and ribbons – 300 this year – into town during the parade and hands them out to the public.

“I give them away for free,” she said, “and all I ask in return is that the people write a note inside the card, put a stamp on it and send it off.”

Through this simple gesture, men and women -- including Greeley's own son, Andrew -- who are stationed overseas are reminded that the folks back home haven't forgotten their sacrifice.

“I want to make sure they know that people are thinking about them,” said Greeley.

Though the project was limited to troops from the local area, Greeley said she is expanding to include members of the military no matter where they're from.

“I want to include everyone I can,” she said. “It's always been Wilton and Lyndeborough, but this year we opened it up to everybody, any member of the armed services.”

Greeley relies on friends and family of the troops to give her their names and addresses so she can help get the cards to them, and depends on donations from individuals and local businesses to keep her in plenty of yellow ribbons and greeting cards.