BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — On October 14, Kristen Signore's son, Lawrence who serves in the U.S. Navy and grew up in Cape Coral, got deployed on USS Eisenhower. Her son and his squadron, will receive thousands of letters from kids across the country over the next four to six weeks.
Naples eleven-year-old, Sutton Shanahan, started the campaign Letters 4 Troops with her non-profit Kidz 4 a Cause, after she learned about her family friend's deployment.
"Young children at a young age understand what it really means to serve your country and be away from your family to be deployed to a war zone. It’s invaluable it truly is,” Kristen Signore said.
Fox 4 reported on Sutton when she began her campaign. Now, a month later and on Veterans Day, Kidz 4 a Cause will send over a thousand letters from children in Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Connecticut.
Rick Shanahan is Sutton's younger brother. He and his classmates wrote letters.
In a few of them, Rick said he wrote, "Thank you for your service. Thank you for putting your life on risk and bless you.” He also said that he and his friend also included stories about baseball and school.
He added, “I always wanted to at least help and to see people at least be filled up with joy when they’re a ways from their family.” Rick mentioned the possibility of one day meeting a soldier he wrote to could be so special and unique.
Lawrence's mom shared that his former elementary school in Cape Coral wrote letters to USS Eisenhower as well.
“They write a blank check. There’s no other way to say it. To the United State of America they're writing a blank check. I pray that my some comes home okay,” Signore said.
Kidz 4 a Cause plans to ask local businesses in Southwest Florida to write letters to USS Eisenhower as they extend the letter campaign until February because of its success.
