Big thanks come in small envelopes

When the first batch of valentines started rolling in, Amy Berger thought her little project had lost steam in its third year.

But now that she's hearing back from grateful servicemen and women serving overseas, she knows it was as successful as ever.

"It wasn't that big at first," the 17-year-old Naperville girl said Friday. "I actually, really was worried."

Last year, her Hearts for Heroes project, which distributed about 50,000 Valentine's Day cards to American troops serving abroad, was a smash.

"At the beginning, we were getting nervous," said Dominique Martucci, owner of Naper Nuts & Sweets in downtown Naperville.

Martucci sends the valentines in boxes filled with caramel-flavored popcorn to the troops as part of her Operation: Caramel Corn program.

All of a sudden, though, they were inundated with the paper hearts. They came from all over the country and from all kinds of places. Schoolchildren in Texas sent hundreds, Scout troops contributed scores of cards, church groups dropped off carloads of valentines at various depositories positioned around Naperville.

"Come Valentine's Day, I can't even tell you what it was like," Martucci said. "It was easily double what we got last year. There were too many to count, and if we did, we'd still be counting them. It was really exciting to see it catch on in so many places."

But her excitement was tempered with personal sadness. Berger's uncle, Alan Glass, 59, died unexpectedly on Valentine's Day.

Glass was a Purple Heart recipient who had served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine and was Berger's inspiration for starting her project along with her military veteran grandfather.

"I just couldn't believe it," Berger said. "I hadn't really ever gotten a chance to talk to him about this, and now he was gone."

Martucci also was saddened by the news and sorry that Berger couldn't be with them on Valentine's Day to help pack boxes and see all the cards that had poured in.

"We were still sending them in boxes we were packing four or five days after Valentine's Day," Martucci said.

Berger said it is ultimately her hope that she won't have to do the project again next year because all the servicemen and women will be back home, but she realizes that it's unlikely that will be the case.

"We have to deal with the situation as it is, and if they're going to be over there, the least we can do is show them we're thinking about them this way," she said.

Besides the cards and popcorn, Martucci also is sending the troops copies of Daily Herald articles written about Berger in each box so they know who is responsible.

"She's got so many thank-you cards, she needs to come and see them and pick them up," Martucci said. "She's setting a precedent for her generation."

Berger, who's a busy Waubonsie Valley High School junior, said she's planning a trip to the candy store Monday just for that purpose.

"It's really nice to hear back from the soldiers and that they appreciate this," Berger said.

In their own words

A sampling of some of the kudos Amy Berger has received for her Hearts for Heroes Valentine's Day card program for U.S. troops serving abroad:

Army 1st Lt. Steve Gieser: "Wow! What a heart of dedication and support. You are a true supporter and patriot for all of us serving our nation abroad."

Sixth-grader Rachel Schorr: "I think it's really cool how you're doing this. One person can make a difference and I bet the troops will definitely agree when they get all the cards."