Former ACC student creates Pocketful of Thank Yous keepsake coins for soldiers

The purpose of Veterans Day and Memorial Day is to honor the sacrifice and dedication of people in the military, but it isn't often that anyone takes a moment to personally thank a veteran.

Austin based jewelry designer and former ACC student Carianne Schulte created a keepsake called A Pocketful of Thank Yous to make it easier for people to do just that.

A few years ago, a young soldier caught Schulte's attention as she walked through the El Paso airport. Like hundreds of other servicemen, he was wearing fatigues and carrying a duffle bag. He was likely back from a tour of duty in Iraq, but there was no one waiting to greet him. To Schulte, the serviceman seemed very alone.

"There was this look in his eyes that made me want to find out what he had been through," Schulte said.

For a moment, Schulte thought about approaching the young man to say thank you.

"I pulled back because I didn't feel that saying thank you was enough ... and I regretted it. I didn't want that to happen again," Schulte said.

Schulte's sense of missed opportunity led her to create A Pocketful of Thank Yous using some of the skills she learned as an art student at ACC. A Pocketful of Thank Yous is a keepsake about the size of a quarter that can be given to military personnel and their families.

The coins are two-sided. One side displays a bald eagle and a flag with the words 'Thank You' written across it. On the other side is Schulte's wish for all members of the service, "May you have a pocketful of thank yous."

To further aid the soldiers, Schulte has arranged to donate 25 percent of proceeds from coins sold in Austin to the Samaritan Center's Hope for Heroes project. Hope for Heroes provides free and confidential counseling services to military personnel and their families impacted by tours in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

It is Schulte's hope that all soldiers and their families receive one of the thank you coins.

"Having something tangible to give makes it easier to approach our service men and women to say thank you," Schulte said.

Receiving gratitude from Austinites was a new concept for some servicemen as local artist and former ACC instructor, Adele Riffe, discovered the first time she presented one of the thank you coins.

While out at a local restaurant, she approached a man and woman in uniform and gave each a coin. Their reaction surprised her.

"They didn't look at them and seemed really closed off," Riffe said.

One of those servicemen, 1st Lt. Rich Salinas, said he wasn't sure what to think when Riffe approached them. Feelings about the war run strong in Austin and some people take out their frustrations on the military, which makes the servicemen more cautious.

Salinas said A Pocketful of Thank Yous ties in perfectly with Army tradition. Army officers have coins made to recognize people in their command. "It's an honor," Salinas said, "to be coined by a commander." Salinas added the thank you coin to the collection he displays on his desk. It's a unique piece that attracts attention from others in the military.

Salinas found Schulte's e-mail on the coin packaging and sent her a note saying how much he appreciated the coin and why he had been guarded when he received it.

When Riffe heard about the e-mail it changed her view of the encounter. "It must be really odd to feel that conspicuous," Riffe said. "It made me appreciate their situation even more."

Riffe immediately bought five more coins to give out.

"Anytime you say thank you to a soldier it means a lot," said Joyce Cordell, marketing director at El Paso Community College.

Coins purchased by the college were given to soldiers from the Wounded Warrior Unit during an event to raise funds for scholarships for dependents of service personnel. Cordell says the soldiers were tearing up as the college president, Richard Rhodes, handed out the coins with a personal message of thanks to each of them.

Schulte believes that regardless of one's feelings about the war, most people in Austin recognize that the men and women of the military are making physical, financial and mental sacrifices in the name of country and duty.

As Cordell said, "A Pocketful of Thank Yous is a perfect way to express what a lot of Americans feel but can't really say."

Available at:

www.bycarianne.com