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CARBONDALE, Ill. (WSIL) --Kids from the Southern Illinois area are working with a local museum to give hundreds of veterans Christmas cards this year.

Danny Loeh with the Veterans� Military Museum in West Frankfort is collecting Christmas Cards from kids. He’ll hand them out to Veterans at the Marion VA Hospital.

“All of West Frankfort is involved all the way down to the first graders, kindergarteners, all the way the juniors and seniors,� Loeh said. 

Loeh says he started giving out Christmas Cards 10 years ago, and as a veteran himself, he knows how much the thought counts.

“So tell them thank you. When I came back from serving, I was cussed at and spit at, at the airports. I don't wanna see that ever happen again to our country,� Loeh said.

Loeh says he has collected 300 cards and is hoping to give out 400. He is excited to see the look on his peers' faces when they receive them, and the smiles they give him stay with him.

Loeh says his visit with one veteran at the VA will always stay with him.

“I gave him his Christmas card and he had the biggest smile on his face,� Loeh says. “When I was leaving the room. I looked back, and the tears were running down his eyes. Then I found out that he had no family left. This would be it right there for him.  And we made his day and that made me feel good.�

Loeh says he finds the kids want to know more about what veterans have gone through when they are involved in activities like making Christmas cards.

“It just amazes me of some of the questions they have. I'm also very surprised by the things they don't know about. They don't know about Pearl Harbor or December 7th,� Loeh said. 

He says besides giving Christmas cards, they also invite the kids to see the museum.

“This is our history right here in this museum. We have over 4,000 items in this museum,� Loeh said.

But Loeh says it's the selfless act of thanking them for their service and letting them know they are still cared for.