Photo: Carla Temme
This week, two Kelowna sisters delivered over 1,000 handwritten Valentine’s Day cards for seniors living in nursing homes.
The sisters Carla Temme and Jill Hotchkiss both have their birthdays in February. Instead of giving gifts every year, they instead try to do random kind acts.
This year, her tradition wasn’t an option due to COVID-19, but that didn’t stop her from planning something else.
The Hotchkisses came up with the idea of putting together Valentine’s Day cards for seniors in nursing homes who are currently feeling isolated. That feeling hits her almost at home because her father-in-law has been isolated in an expanded care facility in Edmonton for most of the past year.
“The thought that he has no company breaks my heart and I feel for all the seniors who cannot see loved ones during COVID-19. He’s an incredibly positive 85-year-old who loves receiving mail and would love to receive a Valentine’s Day card like this, “says Hotchkiss.
The original goal was to collect 100 cards and give them to residents of a nursing home in Kelowna. However, they exceeded this target by 900 cards.
Temme, a teacher at Watson Road Elementary in Glenmore, encouraged students to join her. Over 300 students from grades 1 to 6 took part and made handcrafted cards for seniors they have never met. Maps were made with the school’s own painting supplies.
At the same time, Sister Jill Hotchkiss, a retired school secretary and active member of the Kelowna Ward, was collecting 700 cards through her network.
With so many cards to give away, the sisters decided to expand their delivery to seniors in 13 nursing homes: Brandts Creek Mews, The Highlands, Millcreek Village, Three Links Manor, Glenmore Lodge, Harmony House, David Lloyd Jones, Good Samaritan, Bordon House, Chartwell, Hawthorn Park, Twin Maples, and Senior’s Outreach.
According to Temme, she and her sister have received multiple calls and photos from nursing homes since giving birth, expressing how happy the seniors were when they received their cards.
“We have to remember that they are still part of the community,” says Temme, holding back tears. “So many kids have written the cards that they look forward to seeing you along the way and that we will miss you.”
Temme says this act of kindness also had a positive effect on her students. “They miss their normal life and their game dates and that certainly hasn’t replaced that, but instead of being sad, they just reached outside of themselves,” she explains.
“I think, you [the students] I’ve learned that their little pens and words have more power than they ever imagined, and that kindness is really contagious, “adds Temme.
The sisters hope to do even more next year to make someone’s day more beautiful, and are already planning their next random act of kindness.
