Valentine’s Cards for Seniors enters its fourth year

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

For the fourth consecutive year, Valentine’s Day will usher in a bit more love for Sandpoint’s senior population. Donna Price began Bonner County Valentine’s Cards for Seniors in 2020, which is an annual event during which community members make Valentine’s, which she then collects and distributes to local senior centers and assisted living facilities.

Price planned to start small during the first year, hoping to make and hand out about 200 cards, but the community caught wind of it and the response blew away any notions of a humble beginning for the program.

Through social media, local newspapers and word of mouth, Price’s project went viral and, by the end of the inaugural collection period, she had received more than 1,400 cards.

Now, the Valentine’s cards are produced by various members of the community, then dropped at collection buckets around the county from which Price gathers them up before Valentine’s Day. Price will then deliver the cards throughout the county to make sure area seniors receive a little love on Valentine’s Day. 

As a touching new development over the past few years, area students from Sandpoint High School; elementary schools in Clark Fork, Sagle and Sandpoint; PSNI; and several day care centers have also chipped in to create cards for the program.

Price told the Reader the response to the program has been overwhelming.

“This started when COVID hit our community and many seniors could not leave nor have visitors,” Price said. “I have continued it because many participants enjoy doing this and for some past recipients, it was their very last Valentine’s Day. Knowing that smiles were brought to their hearts and faces is what keeps me doing this.”

To participate, make or purchase Valentine’s cards and drop them at any of the heart-shaped baskets spread across the county. Price asks that cards come in envelopes that aren’t sealed. Participants can write their name or include an anonymous note such as “From Someone Who Cares,” and drop at the following locations before noon, on Friday, Feb. 9: Buckin’ Beans, Fry Creek Animal Clinic, Pierce Auto and Maker’s Long Acres in Sagle; Finan McDonald, Kokanee Coffee, Monarch Mountain Coffee, Evans Brothers Coffee, Sanctuary Seconds, Panhandle Cone & Coffee, Sharon’s Hallmark, Creations for Sandpoint, Millers Country Store, Sandpoint Super Drug, Savory Neighborhood Grill and Miss Alison Fitness in Sandpoint; Cafe 95, Hoot Owl, Farmhouse Kitchen BBQ and Breakfast Cantina in Ponderay; or Infinity Cafe in Priest River until Monday, Feb. 5.

Price said one of the biggest joys for her each year is sorting through the cards and distributing them to the local seniors.

“I can see all the time and love invested in each card, even the store bought ones that have handwritten messages in them,” Price said. “I do go through a lot of tissue during this time.”

Those with any questions can contact Price at [email protected].

For more information about Bonner County Valentine’s Cards for Seniors, visit the Facebook page at bit.ly/BoCoValentines.