Bert Weiss, Kristin Klingshirn and Jeff Dauler of the Bert Show at the conclusion of sending out 170,000 letters to troops worldwide last week. All the letters should arrive by Thanksgiving. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Oddly, the bar gets lower each year for Bert Weiss and his Bert Show in his annual Big Thank You campaign.
The goal of the Big Thank You is to send appreciation letters to every American military person who is overseas on Thanksgiving. But that number has shrunken over the past few years as the military itself has seen its footprint get smaller, especially in foreign lands. In 2007, Bert’s crew sent out more than 375,000 letters when the U.S. were still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 400,000 in 2011. This year, they only needed 160,000 and received more than 170,000.
Over five different campaigns, the show has received and delivered more than 1.4 million letters. The radio show, now heard in 20 markets nationwide, has hit its goal every time.
That doesn’t mean the job isn’t difficult. Hundreds of volunteers help collect and vet letters, then place them in boxes to be sent to troops worldwide. Last week, more than 15 volunteers and radio station folks gathered to deliver the boxes out. The good news is the system has gotten smoother and they were able to make deadlines, no problem.
A sample thank you letter. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Previous stories about the Big Thank You
11/17/13: Bert Show sends out 250,000 letters
11/14/12: Bert Show receives more than 200,000 letters
11/11/11: Michelle Obama thanks the Bert Show for the Big Thank You
10/31/11: Bert Show gets 400K letters
11/5/07: Bert Show reaches 375K letters in first Big Thank You campaign
