Wine delivers 14,000 Christmas cards for soldiers, gets special invitation from Grant

Janesa Wine delivered over 14,000 signed Christmas cards to the American Red Cross Wednesday and got a surprise visit and invitation from the singer who inspired her project. The 11-year-old Dickson County girl spearheaded a year-long drive to collect cards to send to American soldiers through the Holiday Mail for Heroes program of the Red Cross. She spent the last several months getting the cards signed by area residents with personal messages to servicemen and women. When Wine and her family delivered the cards yesterday to the Red Cross, country singer Amy Grant surprised Janesa with a personal thank you. Wine says she saw Grant in a public service announcement for the greeting program two years ago and it inspired her to participate. She used her own money to purchase a couple hundred cards in the first year and through donations from the public she collected 14,065 signed cards this year. Wine and her family went to events across the region asking people to write messages and sign the cards. Grant not only thanked Wine for her efforts, but also invited Janesa to join her and husband Vince Gill on stage at the Ryman Auditorium Christmas show next month to sing Grant’s Tender Tennessee Christmas. The Red Cross is accepting signed Christmas cards for the greeting program until noon tomorrow. Wine said she plans to begin collecting cards for Christmas 2013 in the next few weeks.