More than 2500 cards handed out in 4th annual “Salute to Service Christmas Card Drive”

KINSTON, NC (WWAY) — Today was the big day for 8-year-old Tucker Rose and his family as they handed out Christmas cards to around 100 veterans at the North Carolina State Veterans Home in Kinston.

Tucker started the drive as a way to honor veterans and give back to the community.

On Christmas Eve, Tucker and his family placed the cards into bundles of 25 to hand them out.

And then on Christmas Day, they handed the cards out to veterans.

This year, Tucker collected and handed out 2,595 Christmas cards, a new high for his drive.

Tucker and his father Daniel said it meant a lot to see the reactions of the veterans.

“It was pretty cool to hand out the cards,” Tucker said. “Everybody was really, really thankful. There was one guy that actually started crying. He was really emotional about it. I think he kind of there by himself, didn’t have any family that we could see,” Daniel said.

In total, Tucker has collected and handed out more than 6,000 cards over the past 4 years.