We Are Grateful

What is Gratefulapp?

Gratefulapp.com is a web application for creating micro-posts ("grateful messages") to our soldiers here and overseas.

It all started with Stephen Colbert, which I am sure if you ask Stephen, he will tell you, is where most good things come from. In June of last year Steven Colbert guest edited the monthly edition of Newsweek magazine. Finding myself with ample time in a doctors office waiting room, I had the chance to read this issue (I only read Newsweek for the articles).

The article "Why I took this crummy job" (Read the article) really struck me. In it Stephen, in his own sarcastic way brought up the fact that there are 135,000 troops still stationed in Iraq and that most of America seems to be blissfully unaware of this fact. Stephen explained that he took the gig at Newsweek to try and raise awareness of our troops, to make sure they know they were not forgotten.

In the past you could remind our troops they were not forgotten by writing a card or letter and addressing it to "Any Service Member". The card or letter would be delivered to a member of our Armed Forces serving our country. Due to the ongoing security threats to our troops the Department of Defense has cancelled the Any Service Member program, so mail must be addressed to specific soldier (Link).

I don't personally know anyone serving in Iraq or Afganistan, so this presents a problem. They say "when you all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". When you are a web developer everything looks like a web app. I decided to try and build an app that would leverage social media to help fix this problem.

My hope is that Gratefulapp will make it easy for people to take a moment to tell our troops thanks and let them know how much their service means to us, either through the site or via Twitter.

How can I send a Grateful Message via Twitter

Short Answer: Add the #wearegrateful hashtag to your tweet. More information can be found here: (Twitter Info Link)

Who built Gratefulapp?

My name is Al Partridge (@uselink126), I built this project along with my teenage son Alex (@gratefulapp).

How can help?

You can support the troop charities in the Help (Link) section.

Where can I get press information about Gratefulapp.com?

Our latest press release is available here (Link). Our Press page is available here: (Link)

How do I contact someone at Gratefulapp.com?

You can contact us at: al(at)gratefulapp.com