HUBBARD, Ohio — The nation celebrated its veterans on Saturday.
That includes a group of sisters who honor their late grandfather’s memory by spreading goodwill around the world, one greeting card at a time.
When Air Force Veteran Thomas Plumeret of Hubbard, Ohio was stationed overseas during the Korean War, he kept in touch with his family back home, a tradition he continued with his grandchildren after the war.
"My grandpa was great at sending cards. He would always pick out the perfect one. He sent them on your obvious holidays – Halloween, birthdays, Christmas, Easter,” said Project Tom Co-founder Kristen Angelo. “But then he would send them just because it was Tuesday or because it's been too long since you called and he wanted you to give him a call."
It's a tradition that always put smiles on their faces.
"Somehow he always knew the perfect time to send one. I'd be having a bad week, he'd not know about it, but then a card would show up. It would just be hilarious or cute or supportive and it just turned your whole day around,” said Angelo.
When Tom passed away shortly before his 84th birthday in 2019, his family decided to spread 84 random acts of kindness in his honor.
"Then that Christmas, my wife gifted us the domain to ProjectTom.org and set it up so people could submit requests for greeting cards,” said Angelo.
Project Tom sends cards to people all around the world, for free, for any reason.
With hundreds of cards, filled with ‘Papa-ism’ lines of wisdom, their goodwill has reached farther than they could have ever imagined.
"We never expected to send 2500 cards in just three years. But sometimes we just kind of go viral on the internet and we just get flooded with requests and it's amazing to see those requests come in. It's amazing to be able to share Papa with everybody,” said Angelo.
With the cards sent to all 50 states and 27 different countries, Veterans Day could soon be filled with many ‘Papa-isms’.
If you would like to donate to Project Tom, to help them continue their mission, click here.
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