November 14, 2012, by Rodney Ho

Home-schooled 11-year-old Hailey Odom of Covington drove to Q100 headquarters to stack letters with her mom Valerie. They have several family members overseas. PHOTO CREDITS: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
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For a third time, Q100’s Bert’s Show has achieved its goal to send at least one hand-written letter to every military personnel who is overseas during Thanksgiving: more than 200,000.

This is actually half as many letters as they needed last year, when 400,000 troops were overseas, many in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bert Weiss said he'd now like to do this every year. The show tried it once in 2007 and brought in more than 300,000 letters.  A year later, they attempted a digital version but that didn't work. In 2011, they revived the old-fashioned letter-writing campaign. "There's something so special to receive something hand written," Weiss said.

The landlord for the building where Q100 studios are based allowed them to use empty space above their studios for the past week to stack, organize and count the letters, most of which flooded in the past week. Anywhere from 20 to 50 volunteers at any given time did the sorting from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day since Nov. 7. Bert Show operations manager Tommy Owen (who can be heard every week doing a weekly rap summary of the show's happenings) oversees the entire operation.

The U.S. Postal Service was set to send off the last batches for delivery this afternoon.

The Bert Show cast teased Bert Weiss about this poster because it makes Bert appear to be the same height as Jeff Dauler.
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Bert Weiss, Kristin Klingshirn, a pregnant Jennifer Hobby and Bert Weiss (jokingly on a chair given his short stature).
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The Bert Show goofing around
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 11: Executive producer/director Greg Nicotero and actor Norman Reedus attend "The Walking Dead" For Your Consideration Event at The Montalban Theater on April 11, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for AMC)

Credit: Rodney Ho

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Credit: Rodney Ho

ajc.com

Credit: Rodney Ho

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Credit: Rodney Ho

Kristin Klingshirn helps out with the sorting. Her brother James Morgan is a life-long U.S. Marine who was deployed in Afghanistan a year ago. Now, he's home in Kentucky with newborn twins.
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letters galore
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Jeff Dauler, who has lost weight this past year after training for a triathlon, poses with volunteers Hailey Odom (left) and Valerie Odom (right)
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