About the Project

Note:  For additional information, click on the links in Dark Purple

In October 2008, Carly read a book that she got for her 4th birthday, called Love, Ruby Valentine (by Laurie B. Friedman).  It is about a little girl named Ruby Valentine who loved Valentine's Day so much that she would spend days preparing and making Valentine's Day goodie bags with treats, and cards with glitter. Then on Valentine's Day, she would load them up in her decorated wagon and pass them out to everyone in her town to make them smile and feel special.

Carly loved the story and immediately said that she wanted to do it too - because it seemed so nice to make people smile and feel special.  

We kind of thought she would forget about it since Valentine's Day was months away!  She didn't.  We then thought that maybe she could just pass out treats to the people on our street, since we lived in such a big town and we couldn't really go to everyone!  She didn't like that idea, it wasn't close enough to what Ruby Valentine did. So we asked her who she thought would most enjoy getting a Valentine visit from her.

Her answer was so sweet -- "...probably kids because they like candy, probably people who are sick because they might need to be cheered up, and also anyone who might not get a visitor or be invited to a party on Valentine's Day."

We had our work cut out for us -- we found some places that were very excited to see Carly on Valentine's Day!  We told her that this would be expensive, and she immediately counted all the money in her piggy bank, which equaled $48.76 (and she was prepared to spend all of it!).  We sent out a letter to friends and family to see if they wanted to help -- and boy did they ever!

Valentine's Day 2009 - The first year:  

Carly raised about $450, made 115 Goodie Bags and cards, and delivered them to people at four locations.    

Valentine's Day 2010: 

Carly raised over $1100, made 165 Goodie Bags and cards, and delivered them to people at five locations.  She had extra money left-over, and so she made a $400 scholarship donation to Kid's Care Connection, and donated $200 in cozy blankets to the Crisis Nursery!  KARE 11 (NBC) heard about Carly's project and joined us at a couple of stops on delivery day -- she was on the news in several states and timeslots -- Click here for a link to the story and video segment!

Temporary residence for cancer patients nd their care-givers that normally live outside the Twin Cities, but are receiving treatment at a Twin Cities hospital.

Park Gardens  - added this year!
Assisted Living Residence for the elderly (Fergus Falls)

From stuffing/stamping the envelopes for the fundraiser, to bringing in the checks and coins to the bank for cash, to shopping-shopping-shopping, and making all the goodie bags, cards, decorating the wagon, etc., Carly manages every step of the way!  

This year Carly has recruited some help in assembling her goodie bags -- her Girl Scout Daisy Troop and the 1st grade classes at her school will all join in the fun of creating the goodie bags for the project!!  

She truly leads the efforts throughout every phase of the project, and everything she does is based on her idea of what Ruby Valentine would do.  Very sweet!

 

Delivery day is very special for the entire family and her enthusiasm is contagious!  Carly seems so empowered the more treats she delivers -- especially at the nursing homes. They are so happy to get a visit, and she greets each person with such confidence and a big smile.  She gives and receives many hugs and kisses on Valentine's day.  We're all very proud! 

Well, you can imagine that this year she is more excited than ever!  

She will once again be loading up her wagon with Valentine Treats. We will visit the locations mentioned above.  

She has already started her goodie bags and is designing this year's card.  We can't wait!

Carly loves getting messages,  so be sure to visit the "Contact Me" page!

Thank you so much for your interest and encouragement! We will do our best to keep this site up to date.

Jim & Tina