GAIL WHITE Woman's gift from the heart is in the cards

For the past 10 years, Lee and Edna Gillam of North Lima and their five children have sent Christmas cards to active military personnel.
"We started doing the cards because Jeremy was in the Army," Edna explained. Jeremy is Lee and Edna's oldest son.
"He would say how much his friends miss getting mail from home," Edna continued.
Edna decided to send some happiness to our servicemen.
That first Christmas, 10 years ago, the Gillams sent about 50 cards. Edna packed them in a box inside Jeremy's care package. Jeremy passed them out on his base in Oklahoma.
The next year, the Gillams, along with several of their children's friends, sent cards again.
"Thanksgiving Day, I got out a box of Christmas cards and everyone signed a few," Edna shared. "The children wrote cute little notes in them."
The few that each signed became 100 cards collectively.
Added feature: Edna then added a feature to the card bonanza.
"Every year, we picked a different branch of the military in a different state." Edna said. "We've sent cards to Alabama, Pennsylvania, Nevada ... never the same state twice."
After the Thanksgiving Day signing, Edna gathered her children around a map. They chose the state. Edna researched the military facilities for an address.
"I packed a box with all the cards and put in a cover letter for the commanding officer," Edna explained.
Expansion: Last year, Edna expanded her family project.
She is involved with a support group called Kinship Care. She asked the members of the group to become involved.
Four hundred cards were send to the USS Harry S. Truman.
"They had been out to sea for a long time," Edna said. In her voice, there is a sweet sense of satisfaction as she thinks of servicemen and women opening those Christmas cards.
And then came this year.
Edna, tireless and feisty, decided that she wanted to send 1,000 Christmas cards to the military this Christmas.
Again, she started Thanksgiving Day with her family and friends.
Again, she enlisted the penmanship of her Kinship Care group -- as well as other organizations she belongs to.
Then, she decided to approach her children's school. (There are 1,600 pupils in the district. Surely, half could contribute, she reasoned.)
The administration at South Range School District loved the idea.
The next thing Edna knew, other schools wanted to become involved in the project.
In the end, Edna contacted 27 school districts about the project.
"Some are making cards," she said excitedly. "Some are buying them. One school is making placemats."
While the Christmas cards were being signed, however, Edna ran into a snag.
"A directive came down from Washington," she explained. Due to the anthrax scare, all military mail had to have the exact name, address and return address. "They will burn all improperly addressed mail."
Didn't give up: Someone less tireless and feisty may have given up. Not Edna.
"We have a rule in our house," she said with determination. "The only limits you have are the ones that other people set for you, not the ones you can achieve."
Edna shifted the focus of the Christmas card bonanza to veterans' homes and hospitals.
On Saturday, all the schools involved in the project will meet at Southern Park Mall in Boardman to present their cards.
Sometime before Christmas, Edna and a small group of volunteers will deliver the cards to the deserving men and women who served our country.
"It's our way to say thank you," Edna said. "It's a heart's gift."
gwhite@vindy.com