Who needs classroom for a Valentine?

Who hasn’t purchased packages of Valentine’s Days cards as a child to address each envelope with classmates’ names to exchange at school to each member of the class? It’s a decades-old tradition that is simply part of elementary school in February.

Except this year.

COVID-19 has impacted all kinds of school traditions…exchanging Valentine’s Day cards being the latest victim.

Appropriately-named 6-year-old Hadlee Card to the rescue. She spoke to her mother, Sarah Card about exchanging cards with friends in the community. After Sarah posted the idea on her Facebook page, it rapidly grew to include a bunch of different groups with kids totaling over 200.

“Hadlee’s special Valentines idea grew into something even more amazing than she imagined,” Sarah said. “We invited friends, who invited friends, who invited friends and before I knew it, we had over 200 kids in our city participating. So proud of this girl and her huge heart.” Boxes were left on porches and the exchange began over Valentine’s Day weekend. Distance learning did not thwart card exchange for these Canyon Lake kids in this pandemic year.