Decorated Second World War vet Pte. Fred Arsenault wanted 100 cards for his 100th birthday, so far he’s received 90,000.

Just over a month ago during the Super Bowl, Arsenault’s 63-year-old son Ron, a long-time Scarborough resident, hatched a social media experiment to see if he could get people to send his father 100 cards for his milestone birthday on Friday, March 6.

His post went viral and immediately boxes and boxes of cards and packages started arriving at the home he shares with his wife Betty in southwest Scarborough.

Yesterday, was the busiest day to date with Canada Post dropping off 22 bins, each containing between 200 and 300 letters.

Betty has taken on the task of receiving the mail and counting how many cards they’ve received. All letters and packages are stored in their basement, in a large shop on the property, or in Arsenault’s old bedroom.

“It’s fun and it’s really tiring,” she shared Thursday during a special pre-birthday celebration at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Veterans Centre, where Arsenault has lived since last May.

“Sometimes my eyes are burning!”

During the gathering for “Comrade Fred,” members of various military groups, police forces, and service clubs as well as representatives from The Netherlands and France stopped by to give Arsenault their well wishes.

At the end of the party, son Ron — who first heard about this 100 cards idea online when Jim South, a Second World War veteran from Texas, made a similar wish and received 100,000 cards for his 100th birthday on Oct. 7, 2019 — announced they’ve received 90,000 birthday cards to date.

“It’s going to be a big number, dad, but it’s not quite as much as your age,” he chuckled.

“And there’s still more coming,” added Betty.

Ron took a few moments to thank everyone for sending in cards to his dad as well his wife Betty, family members and Sunnybrook for all of their help and support during this ambitious endeavour.

“I’ve got to give a big thank you to our mailman,” he added.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“We knew this was going to be big, but I think it got a little bigger than we anticipated. … I’m sure by Monday we’ll get another card or two.”

As for Comrade Fred, these days his voice isn’t much more than a whisper, but he seemed to enjoy the gathering in his honour.

“Good luck to us all,” Arsenault, a native of Prince Edward Island who lived in East York for a number of years, said in parting.

Anyone interested in sending a greeting card to Pte. Fred Arsenault should mail it to 9 Kenmore Ave., Toronto, ON M1K 1B3.