The USO and Cheerios have partnered up this fall to send a little Cheer to military families! To kick off the campaign, a special paint scheme was unveiled that will adorn the No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Clint Bowyer at the Phoenix International Raceway during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event the weekend of November 11-13. The design features the message “send Cheer” to encourage fans to send thanks and spread cheer to military families whose loved ones are serving our country.

[caption id=“” align=“aligncenter” width=“350” caption=“Image courtesy of Richard Childress Racing”][/caption]

Military families, whether on bases or in their communities, often face separation, relocations, single parenting duties and economic stress. There are more than 1.4 million active duty military members supported by more than 3.6 million family members, and 70% of married active duty military members have children.

“Our military families rise to the occasion when their loved ones are away and do it willingly, graciously and without fanfare,” said Erin Pisca, Integrated Communications for Cheerios. “We’re proud to partner with the USO, Richard Childress Racing and Clint Bowyer to get the word out and send cheer to these families. We can’t thank them enough for all their support of this program.” To get involved, first look for “Cheer” postcards on the front of specially marked packages of Cheerios cereal found in stores October through November, 2011. People can simply cut out the postcard from the box, write a message of thanks on the back, add a stamp, and mail the pre-addressed postcard to the USO. The USO will deliver the postcards to military families. In addition, Cheerios will send extra “Cheer” to military families by donating $1 to the USO for each postcard received from specially marked packages through November 30, 2012. To kick off the campaign, Cheerios has already donated $150,000 to the USO, and will donate up to an additional $100,000 based upon the number of postcards received. The donation will go towards USO programs that help connect families with their loved ones while deployed.