Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Sending Love

Confession time - yesterday as I was filing in my calendar and making my to-do list which included items like "more celo bags from Hobby Lobby" and "pick up stamp pad for party craft", etc. I was feeling a little less than festive about ALLLL  the things happening in an already busy week.  
I got home in between work and football practice with about an hour for the kids to start working on putting together their class Valentine's when I hopped on Facebook and saw  this post talking about sending Valentine's to kids who are hospitalized and unable to exchange Valentine's with their class.  
I'm sure their mom would LOVE to have to make them a "stadium"-themed Valentine's Day box and figure out the craft for the kindergarten party and help their kids write 100+ names on Val-O-Grams.  
Talk about a perspective shift.  I decided to drop what I was doing and send some Valentine's love to kiddos all over the country and then called my kids into the office and let them each send Valentine's as well.  
It's free.  It only takes a minute.  It's a great perspective-shifter during a busy week.  It's a way to brighten a child's day.  
You can find the original post HERE and if you decide to take a few minutes and send some love leave a comment on this post naming something you're thankful for this week. 

NOTE: You're probably going to have your email address added to a bunch of e-mail mailing lists... I know that's a pain... but you can unsubscribe from lists that you don't want to be on usually with a single click on the bottom of an email and in this case I think it's worth the hassle :)

Texas Children's Hospital
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Choose your card, sign your name and send!
Bonus: For every card sent, Direct Energy will give $1.

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital (University of Michigan Health)
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Select a valentine, fill out the required information and hit submit.

Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (Texas)
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Fill out your information, select from four card options, personalize your wish in the "Message" section and submit.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Fill out your information.
3.) Pick your e-card and send.
*Apparently, we're not the only ones spreading this nice idea. The website includes the following message: "Due to an increase in visitors, some users may not receive a confirmation message when sending their valentine. Your message is still getting to us and will be included. We appreciate all you are doing to brighten the day for our patients!"

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Click "create a card."
3.) Select your card, your message, fill out your information and hit send.

Children's Hospital of Los Angeles
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Choose your valentine, add a note and send.
Bonus: The website says that for each card sent, Party City has pledged to donate $1 to the hospital, up to $25,000. Hospital officials also include an important note, that's probably smart to keep in mind when you're filling out any of these: "Please focus on the spirit of Valentine's Day rather than 'get well' wishes, to help keep the celebration upbeat and positive for the kids."

Arkansas Children's Hospital
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Choose your card, your message and hit send.
*Arkansas Children's Hospital is also accepting new art supplies for patients to create their own valentines. The wish list includes: watercolor paint, markers, crayons, paint brushes, rhinestones, sequins, foam stickers, googly eyes, kid scissors, glue dots and lots more, according to the website. To protect patients from infections, all art supplies donated must be new and in original packaging. To learn more or to donate, click or tap here.

Boston Children's Hospital
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Pick an animal-themed card, leave your info and hit send.

Children's Health (Dallas)
1.) Go to this website.
2.) Choose your card, personalize your message, sign your card and it's done!

Phoenix Children's
1.) Go to this website.

2.) Choose your message, fill out your information and the valentine is on its way.

27 comments :

  1. Thank you for those links Andrea. I'm not on Facebook and would never have seen such a heart felt and caring post. I"ll work on sending some Valentine's "cheers" to those children at the different hospitals. I didn't know there was such a way to send our thoughts out to those little ones, so thank you again for being the angel YOU are to all of us!

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  2. Thank you so much for this. I've sent a couple and will continue to do so throughout the day, it's so easy and so impactful. I'm so very thankful for my healthy daughters.

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing! My daughters have each had ultrasounds at Texas Children’s and I’ve had conversations with my oldest (almost 3) about how sometimes people have to stay at the hospital- even kids so this will be a great thing for her after preschool today!!

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  4. Thanks for sharing such an important and caring way to show love!

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  5. Eeeeek! I'm so excited you included Cincinnati Children's on this list! That's my hometown hospital and they are amazing!!! ❤️

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  6. Thank you for sharing this. I don't ever want to take our good health for granted and this is a nice reminder.

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  7. This makes me so happy and I love being able to do this. :)

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  8. What a wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing!

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  9. Thank you for providing the links! You made it so easy to do something nice for those sweet children that have to be in the hospital on Valentine's Day.

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  10. This is the best...thank YOU for sharing this with us so we can all send some love to these kids.

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  11. Thank you so much for sharing this! What an easy way to brighten a child's day.

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  12. I love this! Thank you so much for sharing with all of us so we can add some cheer to these kiddos for Valentine's Day!

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  13. Love this!! Sent one to each site. :) Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Ok this is amazing, and definitely how I'll be spending part of my day. Sharing on facebook too!

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  15. My 6th and 3rd grade daughters will love this! We recently started homeschooling and they've been so upset to miss the class parties and just feeling like they are a part of a whole. #thingstheydonttellyouabouthomeschooling. Thank you for this!!

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  16. Thank you for sharing this! I went to all of the websites you listed and sent one. Such an easy thing to do and hopefully it brings a smile to these precious kiddos faces.

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  17. Thank you for sharing! I loved being able to send some love to some children and also include my own kids in the process so they can spread kindness as well.

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  18. Thanks for the great idea! I enjoyed doing some. When I think of children and families who have to travel the difficult road of a serious illness, I am so thankful for the health of my own children and grandchildren!

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  19. Do you mind if I share this post to Facebook so my friends can send some cards too?

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  20. I actually work for the Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta, GA and as I sat at my desk this morning my eyes started watering because of how lovely and moving this idea is! I spent my morning sending v-day cards to every hospital that was listed. Thank you SO MUCH for posting this!

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    Replies
    1. No thanks necessary... hopefully brightened some kids Valentine's Day!

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