For Valentine’s Day, I decided that I wanted to complete a service project, whether that was volunteering on the weekend or creating something to donate. During the love-themed weekend, I wanted to give a little bit of my own heart and warmth to someone else. So, on Friday afternoon, it hit me! I would create handmade Valentine’s Day cards and deliver to a nursing home, hospital, or some other facility with a similar focus.

Some of our cards!

Thinking locally, I contacted the Ronald McDonald House affiliated with the University of Chicago Hospitals to make sure that they were accepting cards. With an affirmative answer, I did a happy dance and started daydreaming about glitter, construction paper, and glue. Well, I got all of that and more…all over my living room. My sister spent the weekend at my house and we started creating the 22 valentines on Saturday night. Sounds like it would have been easy, but with each card, we challenged ourselves to be more creative, use more glitter, make it bigger, and/or make it smaller. In the end (and on Sunday), we were finally done. Although my apartment looked like a kindergarten class completely went at it, we were delighted!

We had such a great time creating those cards and combining a giving spirit with art. It was a perfect Valentine’s Day on our end! And, we even got to take pictures with Ronald!

I would encourage any and everyone to support a RMHC near them. The houses provide a place for families with ill children to reside while their children complete crucial medical treatments. You (I) wouldn’t want to be far away from your little ones when they are sick, and RMHC makes sure that some families can stay as close as possible during this time. To learn more about the Ronald McDonald House Charities and to find one in your area, you can visit rmhc.org!

-kb