Project Kindness is spreading the love with valentines for strangers

Won't you be mine? Project Kindness is hoping to spread the love this February.

The St. John's-based volunteer group best known for its Merb'ys calendar campaignswants people to make cardsto give to strangerson the street andin long-term care homes.

Hasan Hai, the group's "chief kindness officer," said he got the idea a year ago.

"There's a ton of people who get cards from maybe loved ones or even classmates but there's also a significant number of people who, you know, just don't have that connection or maybe could use a kind gesture," Hai told CBC News.

It just kind of blew up. We made about 2,000 cards.- Hasan Hai

Hai put out the call to get people together to make cards he figured a couple dozen people could make a couple hundred cards.

"It just kind of blew up. We made about 2,000 cards, and about 20 different care homes and seniors' homesand local charities were able to donate them along with some treats and just do a little good," he said.

This cards will go to long-term care homes, as well as organizations such as Choices for Youth and Stella's Circle.

"Since we don't know who the actual recipient is, we don't know the gender, we don't know the age or anything like that, they're just general messages of love and support and connection and just letting people know that they matter," Hai said.

The cards were met with overwhelmingly positive feedback, said Hai.

"A lot of people have a very personal connection with the work they do and the people that they're working with and to know that, you know, these sometimes marginalized populations and groups are even thought of in any capacity was a great thing for them," he said.

Good for givers and recipients

Hai hopes the goodwill is felt not just by the recipients, but by the volunteers as well.

"As they get involved in this and they see how much love and joy, the reason actually doing something for others, I'm hoping that it inspires them," he said."Every other day of the year, as you start looking around, saying, 'How can I do small things for others?' that will have an impact."

This year, the kind gestures have extended across the province. The office of historical magazine Them Days in Happy Valley-Goose Bay got on board with Project Kindness and invited people to make cards for their local organizations.

With boxes of old calendars and magazines stacking up,Them Days editorAimee Chaulk thought making them into valentines would be a great way to recycle them and spread some love.

"I thought, 'Well, why not turn these into cards?'" Chaulk said. "You know, Ithink you can make something really cute."

Chaulk turned part of her office into a craft room for the public to make valentines.

"Then we can just hand this out to somebody who could use a little bit of extra cheer on Valentine's Day a little token of knowing that you're loved and appreciated and somebody out there cares," she said.

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