Cover Story: ESGR and Schmitty Team Up To help Soldiers Say Thanks, Boss

The touching image of a small dog posing respectfully in front of the American flag will be coming in the mail to thousands of corporate bosses and small business owners soon. Even more moving will be the realization that this patriotic pooch's greeting card was sent by their employees who are overseas defending our country with the National Guard and Reserve. The code name for this special "pet" project, Operation: Thanks, Boss, is tied to the appropriate inscription inside the card that reads, Thanks for your support!

Schmitty, creator of New Yorkie Greeting Cards, announced (through her two-legged spokesperson) that the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency within the Department of Defense, is sending 10,000 of Schmitty's specially designed flag cards to National Guardsmen and Reservists deployed in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. The soldiers will then be able to send them back as a personal and unified "thank you" to employers in their communities back home.

Captain Barton D. Buechner, Director of Future Operations for ESGR says, "The Navy has Bill the goat, the Army has its mule, and the Marine Corps has its famous trademark bulldog, Chesty. Now, forward deployed National Guard and Reserve troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have Schmitty, the loveable New Yorkie, to serve as their goodwill ambassador to employers and communities they left behind to serve their country."

ESGR was chartered by the Department of Defense 28 years ago for the purpose of informing employers of the ever-increasing importance of the National Guard and Reserve and explaining the necessity for and the role of these forces in National Defense. Its mission is to rally the support of corporations and small businesses alike to continue salaries and benefits for employees deployed in military operations overseas.

Schmitty created her first greeting card in response to the 9/11/2001 loss of her firefighter friends from FDNY Ladder Company 25 in New York City. The ensuing two years saw the proceeds from that card being donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund. Inspired by the success of this effort, Schmitty launched her New Yorkie Greeting Card line. A percentage of the proceeds from New Yorkie Greeting Cards continue to be donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund.

For more information on ESGR, go to ESGR.org. And for more information about Schmitty and her New Yorkie Greeting cards, go to www.schmittysays.com.