Project Gratitude is designed to be effortless for schools & organizations and meaningful for everyone involved. Here is exactly how it works.
Approximately 1.6 million children are part of military families across the
United States. Their lives can include experiences many of their civilian peers
may never encounter — deployments, separations, frequent moves, missed
milestones, and the pride that comes with having a parent serve our country.
Project Gratitude was founded to help these children feel seen, honored, and
appreciated — while giving civilian students a meaningful opportunity to learn about
the experiences of military families and respond with empathy, gratitude, and respect.
How the Program Works
01
We Deliver the Kit
Once your school or organization signs up, Project Gratitude ships the cards and program materials directly to you at no cost. Each participant receives one or more pre-printed Project Gratitude cards. The 10-Minute Video Activity includes access to our student video, while the 30-Minute Extended Program also includes a Teacher’s Guide, Student Reflection Handouts, and guided discussion materials. Prepaid return shipping is provided for completed cards. Everything needed to participate is included at no cost to your school or organization.
02
Students Sign the Cards
During either the 10-Minute Video Activity or the 30-Minute Extended Program, students learn about the experiences of military-connected children, read the pre-printed message inside their Project Gratitude card, sign their first name, and may add a personal note, drawing, or both. The 10-minute option uses our Student Video to guide the experience. The 30-minute extended program adds guided discussion and reflection, supported by a Teacher’s Guide with a complete script, discussion questions, Student Reflection Handouts, and everything needed to lead the activity confidently.
03
We Collect and Deliver
After the activity, completed cards are collected by your school or organization’s designated coordinator and returned to Project Gratitude using the prepaid return shipping we provide. Every completed card is independently reviewed twice for appropriateness before Project Gratitude coordinates distribution to military-connected children through trusted military-family partners and distribution channels. Your school or organization never pays for shipping or distributes cards directly to military families. Every card includes an invitation on the back for the receiving family to share their story at project-gratitude.org/share — closing the loop between the student who signed and the child who received.
Privacy is Built into Everything We Do
Project Gratitude never collects home addresses, personal family information, or the identities of military-connected students. Our program operates entirely institution-to-institution — cards travel from your school back to Project Gratitude for processing and then to our distribution partners, never directly to a family’s home. Military students in participating classrooms are never singled out or asked to identify themselves. They participate in the signing session just like their peers. The cards they receive will come from students at other schools — sent through our network, not returned to the same school where they were signed. We take the privacy and dignity of every child seriously.
What We Ask of Your Organization
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Choose either the 10-Minute Video Activity or the 30-Minute Extended Program
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Designate a staff member or adult coordinator to oversee participation and collect the completed cards
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Return the completed cards using the prepaid shipping provided by Project Gratitude
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Military-connected students are never singled out or asked to identify themselves. They participate in the experience alongside their peers.
What Project Gratitude Provides
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All Project Gratitude cards — designed, printed, and shipped directly to your school or organization at no cost
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Access to the Project Gratitude Student Video
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Teacher’s Guide, Student Reflection Handouts, and guided discussion materials for the 30-Minute Extended Program
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Prepaid return shipping
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Independent double review of every completed card
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Distribution to military-connected children through Project Gratitude’s trusted military-family partners and distribution channels
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There is no cost to participate in either program option.
