More than 450 Georgia Tech alumni, faculty, parents, students and staff sent holiday messages to Tech military personnel serving overseas. E-mails from as far as Australia and Mexico were collected, according to Amy Lancaster, Parents Program manager at the Alumni Association.

"Our Web department built the site so the Tech community could submit online holiday greetings to our alumni deployed overseas," she said. "The response was great. We made a 34-page book of greetings and sent copies to our Yellow Jackets serving around the world."

The project was advertised in The Whistle, BUZZwords, ParentNews and e-mails including the Women's Resource Center update.

"We even found it promoted on a Georgia Tech sports blog," Lancaster said.

Each alumnus was sent a package containing a bound book of online greetings, handmade cards from Alpha Chi Omega sorority and a third-grade class at Friendship Elementary School and the Homecoming and To Hell With Georgia editions of the Technique.

The mailing elicited quick response from the field and from home.

"I just received a care package from the Georgia Tech Alumni Association here in Camp Striker, Baghdad, Iraq," wrote Army Lt. Col. Andrew S. Ring, ME 89. "Great stuff. It is really appreciated. I especially enjoyed the cards and the copy of the Technique."

Air Force Lt. Col. Mike McCarthy, IE 83, said he hopes "Georgia Tech continues to make our overseas family members feel a little closer to home during the holidays."

Closer to home, Susan Sappington of Marietta, Ga., wrote, "The Christmas my late husband, Michael Lake Sappington, IE 70, was flying F-14s over North Vietnam was quite a memorable one. You will also have such a holiday this year. Be assured there are many Georgia Tech friends cheering for your safety and well-being. You make all of us so deeply proud of your continued brave work."

printer-friendly version of this article