Operation It's Me

One of the best gifts I have ever received was a one-of-a-kind painting. My best friend secretly took my favorite photo of my beloved cat, Sophia, and had another friend of hers recreate that image with brush and paint.

Now, imagine the joy the parent of a deployed service member at receiving a one-of-a-kind pencil or charcoal drawing of their Hero. Artist Susie Allen of Colorado is working with Soldiers' Angels to help make it happen:

Spurred to action when she realized that instead of just sympathizing with the burdens of military families, she could do something to hopefully lift the spirits of parents worried about their deployed child, Susie conceived Operation It's Me. “If I were waiting for the phone to ring and I ran to pick it up,” Susie explains. “I would want to hear, ‘Hi, Momma/Honey, it's me!’ When the package with the deployed hero's portrait comes to the recipient and they open it, that portrait should say, ‘Hi, it's ME!’”

Susie's artwork is provided at no cost to the parents. The art materials are provided by Blick Art Supplies and Soldiers' Angels helps with shipping. If you would like to see Susie's portfolio, visit her website.

To have a portrait of a deployed service member made for a parent, send clear, medium-sized pictures (no taller/wider than 1200 pixels) of the service member to itsme@soldiersangels.org, along with any stories or descriptions of the service member that you think will help Susie get a sense of who he/she is in relationship to the parent(s).