Upper Deck Dishes Out Packs at Veterans Day Parade, Sends More to Troops

Upper Deck has been busy honoring America’s active military and veterans by passing out thousands of free trading cards.

For a number of years Upper Deck has been donating trading cards packs to Operation Gratitude; a non-profit organization that sends 100,000-plus “care packages” annually to U.S. service members deployed in hostile regions across the world.  This year, the company created a special Goodwin Champions pack that consists of two base cards and one “Military Machines” insert card.  Upper Deck donated 8,000 of these packs to Operation Gratitude to be included in future care packages.

Additionally, Upper Deck staff personally handed out hundreds of additional packs to the thousands in attendance Monday at the San Diego Veteran’s Day Parade.

“You will not find another trading card company that is as dedicated to giving back to the troops and their families than Upper Deck,” said Chris Carlin, sports marketing manager. “We hope packs included in Operation Gratitude’s packages help provide a piece of home and welcome distraction for the brave U.S. military men and women serving overseas. Additionally it was great to be able to march in the Veteran’s Day parade today and hand out packs while personally thanking veterans for their service.”

“Trading cards are a reminder of home for those serving America abroad,” said Carolyn Blashek, president and founder of Operation Gratitude. “It is refreshing to see a company like Upper Deck create something special for member of our military. Delivering these ‘Military Machines’ cards along with traditional sports cards will certainly be a welcome surprise to those who open care packages from Operation Gratitude in the coming months.”

On Tuesday night company staff with be attending a special USO dinner with several hundred members of the military and their families. There Upper Deck will be sharing more of these packs, but also giving away some other unique collectibles as a way of saying thank you to the troops.

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About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 40 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected].