In March 2003, Town & Village reported on a letter-writing effort started by Gramercy resident Nick Cohen, a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division then studying at Bryn Mawr College. He invited fellow students and neighbors to write to service members deployed in Afghanistan.
The project was framed as support for people far from home, independent of correspondents’ political views. Letters could become an ongoing exchange. Cohen encouraged writers to share everyday interests and experiences rather than make the conversation only about war.
The project’s information sheet identified Neighbors Helping Neighbors as a partner in the care-package effort. Suggested contents included calling cards, stationery, toiletries and snacks. The archive preserves both the local reporting and the project materials, documenting another way the neighborhood’s service network reached beyond Gramercy.