Two Lehighton seniors who spent their Saturday morning standing outside Tractor Supply in Mahoning Township were on a mission passed down from the very top of 4-H of Pennsylvania.

The students, who are members of a local 4-H chapter, were collecting handwritten notes from passers-by, in line with the statewide organization’s 2019 service learning project “Operation Postcard,” which aims to collect 4,444 cards to send out to active duty service members from Pennsylvania.

On a website detailing the mission, 4-H of Pennsylvania says it’s to give back to men and women from the state who are sacrificing to serve their country.

Eighteen-year-old Madeline Tonkin has a personal stake in the project.

Tonkin said her boyfriend, Pfc. Isaac Acuna, who is enlisted in the Army National Guard, knows firsthand how lonesome being away from friends and family can get.

“When he was in basic, he realized how alone you feel,” Tonkin said, “because the only way of communication was letters. … For all the people that are deployed who don’t really hear anything … I heard it’s amazing to get it.”

Katie Aaron, 17, said that since there isn’t anyone in her family that she knows of who’ve served, taking part in the mission is opening her mind to the isolation faced by deployed soldiers.

“A little act of kindness can really help,” Aaron said.

The organization has set February 2020, the same month 4-H of Pennsylvania will host its leadership conference, as the mission’s end date. All the cards will be donated to a local chapter of Blue Star Mothers, a nonprofit that supports mothers whose children are fighting overseas and sends care packages to military bases internationally.

If interested in contributing to “Operation Postcard,” handwritten letters for military members can be sent to the Penn State Extension at 529 Lentz Trail, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229. Letters should be addressed as “Dear Hero” but not reveal too much personal information.

Suggested message ideas include thanking a soldier for protecting the country or reminding them that they are not forgotten.