Moncton family resource centre collects Valentine’s Day cards for seniors in nursing homes

Members of a family resource centre in Dieppe, N.B., are asking seniors in their province to be their valentine.

It comes amid the global COVID-19 pandemic and it’s meant to help seniors in care homes who may be feeling isolated from their families.

It has been a heartfelt tradition at Early Childhood Family Resource Centre in Dieppe for members of the centre to handcraft and deliver valentines to nursing homes in the community, said Melany Landry, who is an outreach coordinator at the centre.

“Normally without COVID-19 we would spend Valentine’s (Day) with the seniors in my community,” said Landry.

But with limited access to senior homes amid COVID-19, she said those visits cannot happen this year.

Brokenhearted over the loss, Monique LeBlanc, who is a program coordinator at the centre, said they decided to get creative.

LeBlanc said the centre put out a call to kids and parents in the community, asking for people to drop off handmade valentines for no-contact delivery to seniors now living in isolation.

“We just wanted to let them know, you know, we are thinking of you,” said LeBlanc.

2:11 Woman in N.B. lifting the spirits of people struggling amid the pandemic

LeBlanc, who lives near a senior care home, says her heart breaks when she sees families suffering from limited contact due to the pandemic.

“I see families at the windows and that is how they are communicating. They are knocking at the windows and having a conversation like that,” she said.

She and Landry are hoping the loving messages of support written in the cards will lift the hearts of lonely seniors.

“We’ve got all kinds. Some little handprints and we’ve gotten these beautiful drawings and even the parents are having a lot of fun joining in with their kids,” said LeBlanc.

The cards will be quarantined for three days before being delivered to the homes this weekend.