ST. CLOUD-- Just in time for Veterans Day, you can send current and former service members a thank you.

The St. Cloud Public Library is hosting an Operation Gratitude letter writing event Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can stop by and write a letter, write a thank you, or color a picture to send to our troops.

Operation Gratitude is a nationwide non-profit that sends more than 200,000 care packages each year to deployed troops, veterans, new recruits, and first responders.

Library Associate Lisa Hill says she found the organization online and decided to plan an event close to Veterans Day.

They are a nation-wide non-profit group that sends care packages to first responders, active duty service members, veterans, and new recruits, and they include letters of gratitude in these care packages, and so I thought it would be a wonderful time around Veterans Day to have this letter writing activity here at the library.

Hill also says of all the things that go into the packages, the letters are what service members appreciate the most.

While the service members do appreciate the care packages and all of the goodies that they get in them, the most cherished items are the letters that they get from people. So, I think that that's why I just saw it as a really neat opportunity for people to do something very simple, free, doesn't take a lot of time, and means a lot to the people who are receiving the care packages.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information on how to get involved with Operation Gratitude, check out the link below.

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