I started this card drive back in my senior year of high school to bring some joy to the community during the Holidays.
That first year we collected a little over 150 cards, and each year it grew just a little bit.
In 2020, with your help, I was able to donate over 600 cards to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
My goal in 2021 was to collect 800 cards for our local nursing home residents and hospital patients who are not able to spend this Christmas season with their loved ones.
We all experience a Holiday in our lives where we are not able to be with someone we love - whether we are away, there is an illness involved, someone passes away, etc. It’s not easy. life’s not easy... but it’s the power of the human heart to love and help others that always prevails.
That year we collected a grand total of 1,204 cards in New Jersey alone thanks to our beautiful community!
Last year (2022), I moved to California and almost decided to retire the card drive due to being away from my network and in a new place with very little connections. I happened to receive a text message from a family back home though, asking about the drive as it's their favorite way to involve their kids and give back each year. That's when I knew we had to give it a go.
We got off to a late start and the drive wasn't as successful as prior years - we collected just over 500 cards between my hometown in New Jersey and San Diego - but we still managed to bring smiles to the faces of nursing home patients as well as families at the Ronald McDonald house.
This year, however, we made sure to get a head start on preparation and promotion and it is with immense gratitude that I say we managed to collect 1,255 cards for nursing home residents and hospital patients between my hometown in Jersey and new community in San Diego!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you, God bless you and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy, healthy New Year.
…until next year!
Sending love always,
J.S.
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