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Kids making Valentine’s Day cards for Greater Nashua Meals on Wheels recipients

MERRIMACK – St. Joseph Community Services Meals on Wheels seniors will receive handmade Valentine’s Day cards created by youth volunteers from across the country.

Announced on Jan. 6, DoSomething.org, an organization for young people and social change, teamed up with the AARP Foundation’s Mentor Up and the Meals On Wheels Association of America for the second annual Love Letters campaign.

The campaign, encouraging young people to create handmade Valentine’s Day cards to lift the spirits of older adults, runs through Sunday, Feb. 15. Cards will be included in meal deliveries to Meals on Wheels clients across the country.

Young people who sign up at dosomething.org/loveletters and report back with a photo will be eligible to win a $10,000 scholarship.

“We are thrilled to be participating in this campaign,” said Meghan Brady, president of SJCS. “We recently surveyed our homebound meals recipients, and 20 percent reported that they receive no weekly visits besides their Meals on Wheels driver. These handmade cards will help our homebound to know that someone is thinking of them on Valentine’s Day.”

The cards made as a part of the campaign will be distributed through Meals On Wheels Association of America’s network, which serves 2.5 million seniors who are homebound because of limited mobility. The support of the volunteers and meals they provide is critical to helping them maintain enough independence to stay in their own homes.

“Last year, DoSomething.org members made over a quarter of a million Valentine’s Day cards for homebound seniors,” said Naomi Hirabayashi, chief marketing officer at DoSomething.org. “By combining social change with things that young people love like Valentine’s Day and crafts, young people are able to make a huge impact and use their skills.”