2015 CARING HEARTS CARD DRIVE


Hi all. The weather is getting cooler and holiday time is right around the corner. We are back for the 6th year for our annual Caring Hearts Card Drive. The purpose of our card drive is to collect holiday cards for the elderly that lives in nursing homes. I started this card drive 6 years ago, in 2010 in honor of my mom. That first year, we collected 750 cards. And each year it continue to grow bigger. Last year we received over 17,000 cards and branched out to Australia!! It was such an amazing year.

Jennifer McGuire and I are excited to continue this journey and we really hoping that we can bring holiday cheers to many, many more nursing homes. 

We have a few ladies helping us in collecting the cards. Tina Schrof is working with Jennifer in collecting the cards. Since international shipping is expensive, those of you in Canada can mail your cards to Anita or Caroline and they'll distribute the cards. And, for those of you in Australia, you can send to Linda. :)

The holidays are about family, kindness, and joy. During this time many of the elderly who lives in nursing homes would really feel the loneliness or missing their family. Wouldn't it be so awesome if we can bring a smile to their face & brighten their holiday season simply by sharing our love of card making? A simple gesture to let them know that they are not forgotten. That someone still thinking of them.

We all love making cards and what’s better than knowing our creations can bring a smile to others, right? Some helpful people already agree to help us deliver the cards to selected nursing homes.

A few important details:
  • This card drive will be going on from October 3 to November 27, 2015. We need to receive your card by November 27, 2015.
  • Please make the cards for Christmas or Holiday Wishes. Anyone can send a card, your children, church group, scout troops, etc.
  • All cards need to have a message in it (it can be stamped or hand written).  
  • Please sign your name and where you are from (inside the card). 
  • Please include an envelope for each card and please don't seal the envelope.
  • Please stick to just cards (standard size A2 or 4-1/4" x 5-1/2")
  • And please don't use any pins (safety reason).
  • This is totally optional. But, if you'd like to include $1 or $2 to help with shipping, it'll be much appreciated. We cover the shipping cost ourselves, with no sponsor, so any donation toward shipping would help tremendously.
You can mail the cards to:
  • Vera Yates, 1314 Roy St., Houston, TX 77007                              
  • Tina Schrof , 185 W. Pugh Drive,  Springboro, OH 45066
  • Linda Langes, c/o Gilston State School, 588 Worongary Road, GILSTON QLD 4211, Australia
  • Piney-fine, Attn: Anita, P.O. Box 30,  Piney, MB R0A 1K0, Canada
  • Caroline Bredeson, 7 Brown Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 1L9, Canada                
In each package, PLEASE include THIS SUBMISSION FORM.  This helps us in keeping track for prizes! For each card you send, you will get a chance.  So the more cards you send, the better your chances. 
To thank you for your generosity in supporting this drive, we have several PRIZES ready for several winners. There will be many winners and remember… the more cards you send the better your chances. :)

Also, if you 'd like to help us promote the card drive, whenever you're sharing your projects for Caring Hearts on social media, please use the hashtag #caringheartscarddrive. Hey, wouldn't it be so cool if we can make kindness trending?

Edited to add: The nursing homes that we supported are based on what people suggested to us. If you want your local nursing homes to receive cards from the card drive, please email me or Jennifer the name of the nursing homes and the number of residents, so we can make sure that we send enough cards. Each year, we never know how many nursing homes we can support as the number are totally based on how many cards we received. To keep things organized, we assigned the 5 collecting addresses above. This way we can keep track of the amount of cards as well as for prize purpose.


I'll update the prize list as more prizes coming in. And huge thank you to all the fabulous, generous companies who support this card drive by donating awesome prizes.

Altenew - $30 GC

Avery Elle - $30 GC

a2z Scrapbooking - $25 GC





Clearly Besotted - £30 (approx. US $45) GC

Crafter's Companion USA - $25 GC


CutCardStock.com  - $50 GC

Ellen Hutson - $50 GC

Gina K. Designs - $100 GC

Hallmark Scrapbook & Crafts - $50 GC

Hero Arts - $50 GC

Honey Bee Stamps - Two $25GC



Jane's Doodle - $75 GC


Jennifer McGuire Ink - 10 fabulous stamps from her favorite company

 Jennifer McGuire - Online Card Classes -  class of your choice - 3 winners




Latina Crafter - $40 GC


Lawn Fawn - $50 GC



Litte Things from Lucy's Cards - 8 bags of Sparkly Shaker Selection

Mama Elephant - $25 GC


Mint Owl Studio - $25 GC




Neat & Tangled - $50 GC



Organize More - $75 GC

Paper Smooches - Two $25 GC



Pink & Main - $25 GC


Pretty Pink Posh - Two $25 GC

Ranger Ink - $50 Prize pack


Reverse Confetti - $25 GC


Richard Garay - Celebration Prize Package


Sarah Rigby (Stampin Up!) - $25 GC + $25 gift pack


Simon Says Stamp - $50 GC

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Spectrum Noir  - $25 GC


SugarPea Designs - $25 GC


Sweet Stamp Shop - Two $25 GC


Technique Tuesday - You're So Sweet Stamp Set



The Ton Stamps - $25 GC

Tim Holtz - $100 prize pack

Verve Stamps - $30 GC




Waltzing Mouse Stamps -  £25 (approx. US $38) GC
Winnie & Walter - $50 GC


Wplus9 - $50 GC


Paper Crafter's Corner - Box of goodies $75 value

I will update the prize list as I get more. :) Please feel free to share about this card drive. We really appreciate your support & generosity. Let's rock this card drive and bring Christmas joy to as many nursing homes as we can!! Thank you. 

PS: Thank you to Chaitali Narla for designing the badge. :)

16 comments:

KT Fit Kitty said...

I read about this over on the Newton's Nook blog. I would like to help out too. I'm in Canada so I'll send my cards to Caroline. What a wonderful and caring thing you are doing! Thank you so much for organizing this!

Roberta G said...

I can also participate..would be sending mine to Houston, Texas. I didnt see much rules..are these non religious type of christmas cards? Can we say Christmas?

Karen Letchworth said...

I just ran to the Post Office and popped some cards in the mail to you this afternoon. I really hope you get LOTS of sweet cards, and that they will bring big smiles to their recipients. God bless you for doing this!
Karen
www.karen-mycuprunnethover.blogspot.com

stampwithsandy said...

Vera I would love to participate. Are there any guidelines as to what should be written inside the cards? Thanks, Sandy, stampwithsandy@aol.com

Unknown said...

What a grand idea!! I will be getting a box of cards. Mine will be sent to Tina Schrof, she is closest to me.
Thank you for taking on this endeavor!!

Cindy Groh said...

I'm getting an envelope together to send to Tina.

Nikki said...

Just popped some in the post to Caroline today :) May you get lots this year
hugs Nikki

Cindy E. Rapson said...

It doesn't look like questions get answered over here but I don't know any other way to get an answer. Can I put my address in/on the card in case they'd like to write back?

Vera Yates (Ling) said...

Yes, you can absolutely put your address in/on the card.

Dana Joy said...

Hey Vera. Mine are going out today. I'll try to send more a little later.

Hugs,
Dana

Anonymous said...

Can the envelopes be clear?

nanci said...

Hi Vera
My cards are going in the mail this morning!
Hugs
Nanci

Judy1223 said...

Thanks for doing this again, Vera...I know it is a huge undertaking and I know the card recipients must LOVE it! I'm happy to be able to participate again this year!

Teresa Godines #6857 said...

Hi Vera,

I was wondering if there was a update on how many cards was sent this year.

Rebecca Felser said...

I totally forgot to add money for postage with the cards I sent. Can I just send it to the address I sent the cards to in OH? I'm so sorry I forgot and just now realized it. I sent the cards in before Thanksgiving. Thank you!

Janeen said...

I was so happy to find this again this year as last year I wasn't able to,participate. I do hope you received much help with the postage. It's such a beautiful gesture for you all to do this.m

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