Florists around Kingston, Ont., are working hard on their busiest day of the year, putting together bouquets and arrangements.
While the adults are buying flowers, some children are doing Valentine’s Day a little differently. Love songs were being performed in the halls of Kingston Secondary School, one of the many activities being put on by the students like Charlotte Davison.
“After lunch we’re going to have a dance. That’s one of the things. Basically, kids can give out stuff to their friends, and the KSS students do a lot of other stuff,” Davison said.
Davison is a Module Vanier student, and her Grade 7 class gave out some smiles this Valentine’s Day. According to her teacher, Chris Weins, her class purchased 18 Valentine’s gift baskets for children who are patients at Kingston General Hospital, and who aren’t around their friends.
“They were really happy about it. It’s always nice seeing that look of surprise, that look of happiness when they receive one. They like being able to send one to a friend, some send them to themselves to be funny.”
This is the second year Wiens’ class has done this. His students helped put the baskets together by hand, and doing a good deed on Valentine’s Day made the day very rewarding for the students like Arianna Scott.
“I felt pretty happy because when I was younger, I had to go into the hospital for surgery, and I found it very scary with all the beeping and machinery. It felt like something nice we could do for them because they might not have someone to be with them on Valentine’s Day.”
So thanks to these seventh graders, Valentine’s Day will be a little brighter for some children in the hospital’s pediatric ward.