CUMBERLAND — Scott Ellingwood never got any formal training when he helped his son start America’s Littlest Heroes, a nonprofit organization that supports the children of military men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He basically went to the library and checked out a book about how to twist balloons.

“Just started twisting them and popped a lot of balloons along the way,” said Ellingwood, of Bedford Street, who learned to make balloon animals and invested in a few over-the-counter magic tricks.

After a little practice, in the spring of 2005, Ellingwood and his son Zane, then 6, set out to throw a birthday party for a military child.

“It was Zane’s idea,” Ellingwood said of his son, who suggested the parties after hearing his parents talk about a father who was being deployed to Iraq.

Four years and a couple of dozen parties later, father and son are still a team, though the focus of the organization has shifted a bit.

A torch has been passed, in a manner of speaking — from son to father, not father to son.

“It’s sort of evolved,” said Ellingwood, who is putting renewed energy into Littlest Heroes after struggling with his health for the past year.

“We’re still a family operation. (Zane’s) not quite as dominant in the organization as he was. And I’ve gotten more interested in it. I’m getting more and more excited about the whole thing.”

The last few weeks, the family has been focused on Valentine’s Day cards. Using an assembly line of colored paper, magic markers, pipe cleaners and stamp pads, they’ve created hundreds of homemade cards to send to children who have an absent military parent.

They hoped to send 1,000. At Easter time, they’ll do it all over again.

“The thing we do most now would have to be the ‘care’ packages,” Ellingwood said. “You can reach people across the United States that way. A lot of these families, if they don’t live on the base, they’re all alone.”

Sara Harrison of Atlanta received a package a few weeks ago. The wife of a Marine who is serving in Iraq, she has two young children, including a 2-year-old son.

“I watched his eyes light up and his face glow as he saw his new toys,” Harrison wrote in a letter of gratitude to Littlest Heroes. “... I hadn’t seen my son that excited since his dad left.”

Ellingwood hopes to start having fun fairs for military and civilian families starting in April, with a kickoff in Cumberland, and later fairs throughout Western Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Father and son plan to travel to Silver Spring for a birthday party next month. Zane, like always, will dress as a clown.

“Maybe that’s why I like it so much,” Ellingwood said. “We really get to do something together.”

Contact Kristin Harty at kharty@times-news.com.