www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1416536,6_1_NA06_HEARTS_S1.article
Waubonsie girl shows heart
Spearheads valentines for troops
February 6, 2009
By M.B. SUTHERLAND For The Sun
For the last four years, 17-year-old Waubonsie Valley High School senior Amy Berger has led a labor of love. Her annual Hearts for Heroes campaign attempts to send a valentine to each American soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last year, Berger says she collected about 100,000 valentines. With an estimated 140,000 soldiers deployed in the war, she has yet to make her goal, but she remains optimistic. "Each year, it seems to grow a little more, so we're hoping to match it up a little more this year," she said.
To contribute
Make or buy a valentine and fill it with any well wishes for our soldiers. Drop it in a Hearts for Heroes collection box at Naper Nuts and Sweets, 10 W. Jefferson Ave., or the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.
To accomplish her goal each year, Berger coordinates her shipments with Dominique Martucci, owner of Naper Nuts and Sweets. Martucci has been sending free caramel popcorn to soldiers for several years and allows Berger to send her valentines with the sweet treats. "She's very generous, she's great," Berger says of Martucci.
Berger has received many letters from soldiers thanking her for her efforts and describing just how much the valentines mean to them. She even got a letter from a soldier who graduated from Waubonsie.
Soldiers Rowdy Rodriguez and Ryan Andrel wrote together to thank Berger, saying, "It keeps the (morale) up in the shop, especially when people understand the (sacrifice) we put in every day out here ... so please keep the letters coming and especially keep the goodies coming."
Although Berger says she would find it hard to estimate just how much time she spends on the project each year, she said she begins working in November and works on the project every day until the end of February. Far from going it alone, Berger has help from the community, as well as her family and friends.
"Everybody that finds out about the project wants to help with it," she said, adding that local businesses, and even Naperville's Mayor A. George Pradel, have offered to put collection boxes out. Local preschool Blue Sky Scholars got into the act this year, hosting a Saturday get-together for the children to make valentines for the project.
In addition, this year Berger posted her campaign on the teen activism Web site
www.dosomething.org and began receiving cards from as far away as England. She said many of the cards came from English supporters of President Barack Obama who say they want to help and support our soldiers.
SPC Alex Teckenbrock, stationed in Iraq, wrote her to say her valentines "really are a morale booster over here. Times get rough," he wrote, "and it's always nice to be able to look up at something and remember that we have the support of millions behind us."
Berger also has received pictures from soldiers thanking her, and even some with soldiers posing in front of valentine-covered walls they've created in their living areas.
These letters and pictures touch Berger's heart. "Even getting these letters is what helps me remember why I do the project every year," she says.
Looking to the future, Berger says she plans to keep the campaign going, even after she goes to college.
"I don't really have a reason," she said. "It's just natural. I feel like I need to keep on doing it. Every time I watch the news, I feel like the least I can do is this."