By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

Tonya Harrelson only wanted a way to tell a military friend in Afghanistan how much she cared, but she couldn’t find any cards that expressed her sentiment. She decided to create her own business to supply military cards for family and friends left at home.

In 2009, Harrelson began creating Until They All Come Home military ministry cards. She designs cards on her computer with photographs and corresponding Bible verses and inspirational sayings.

“I have a friend in Afghanistan, and I just wanted to say ‘I’m thinking and praying for you,'” she said. “A lot of people over there don’t receive anything. If I had a child thousands of miles from home, I wouldn’t want them to come back without receiving anything from home.”

Harrelson said she encourages people to visit Anysoldier.com to find soldiers’ addresses. The website offers addresses for soldiers from all branches of the military.

“Soldiers need socks and toiletries, anything that’s hard to get over there,” she said. “They also like to get candy and books for when they have downtime.”

She said she began the business in order to say thank you to military men and women.

“If I could say anything to our men and women who so bravely serve in the military, it would be ‘thank you for your sacrifices,’” she said.

Harrelson’s boxes of varied military cards are available at Untiltheyallcomehomemmc.com.