Project Tom honors grandfather's memory through greeting cards

HUBBARD, Ohio - With this sudden era of social distancing, it's easy to feel isolated. That was something, Tom Plumeret always wanted to make sure his grandkids never felt.
Tom passed away last year, but three of his granddaughters are making sure his impact is still felt by people who never even got the chance to meet him.
Tom Plumeret's grandkids always smiled when they opened the mailbox and saw a card from their papa.
"He was kind of old school, so whereas most people today would just send an email or send a text message or a Facebook message he would send a hand-written greeting card," said Kristen Angelo. "He had really little, really square handwriting. You'd see that envelope and just know it was something good."
When Tom passed away last July, three of his grandkids wanted to honor his memory.
They started Project Tom, aiming for 84 acts of kindness beginning on what would have been his 84th birthday.
"We taped money to vending machines," said Kristen "Have a snack on our grandpa."
"I bought some coffee for people behind me in line, just random things like that where you had a chance to give back to someone," said Marcy Angelo.
Some of those 84 acts involved greeting cards, just like he used to send. That's the part that ended up sticking out, long after those 84 acts were completed.
Starting in January sisters Marcy, Courtney, and Kristen launched a website, taking requests to send a card to anyone for any reason.
"It's like we're visiting with him through other people," said Marcy.
"There's definitely value in it because it's not something people are expecting," said Courtney Pantone. "Somebody has requested a card for you, and that's something you're not expecting to begin with, and then to receive it in the mail it kind of makes it that much more special because it's so unique."
In a little more than four months, they've sent out more than 300 cards to 29 different states and 16 countries; every one, a nod to a grandpa who made such a big impact.
"Our grandpa's grandkids have stayed pretty local, so I'm not sure he's even sent cards to that many different states and countries."
"In all the cards that we send we share who we are and why we do it," said Marcy. "The first few sentences that I write on the left-hand side of the card are someone submitted your name on the website, this is why we do it, and this is who's thinking of you if they put that in."
All of it, expanding the reach of a simple idea with a lot of meaning behind it; three sisters, making sure we all know about Project Tom.
This is all done for free. All you have to do it go to their website, projecttom.org, enter in the information and they take care of the rest.
Three sisters, trying to brighten someone's day just like their grandpa always did for them.
