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Read the press release here.

How You Can Send 'Handfuls of Love' Valentine's Cards to Lurie Patients

By Joe Ward | February 4, 2016 5:30am
 Lurie Children's Hospital is asking the public to send its patients Valentine's Day cards.
Lurie Children's Hospital is asking the public to send its patients Valentine's Day cards.
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Lurie Children's Hospital

CHICAGO — This Valentine's Day, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital wants its patients to be showered in messages of encouragement in the form of Valentine's cards.

The hospital is asking the public to send the e-cards through its "Handfuls of Love" program, where the hospital will seek to bring a bit of the holiday's spirit to its patients, Lurie Children's Hospital spokeswoman Amanda Salhoot said.

The goal this year, like in years past, is for 10,000 Valentine's cards to be submitted through the hospital's website. Those cards will then be distributed to patients at the hospital and at its 12 satellite locations, left in bowls in waiting rooms and posted to the walls in the hospital's family and life center, Salhoot said.

"We'll be handing out handfuls of these," she said. "We want to shower them with these messages that do mean a lot to families going through a scary time."

The "handfuls of love" website has three cards from which the public can choose to send to the hospital. People are then encouraged to write a personalized message on the card.

With a couple hundred patients at any time, 10,000 Valentine's Day cards might seem like a lot. But Salhoot said the idea is for the messages of encouragement and love to be so overwhelming that it can provide some relief for kids in serious situations.

And the program appears to do just that.

Karen Fraid wrote on Lurie Hospital's Facebook page to say just what the program meant for her son and herself.

"We were in on Valentine's Day, and our cards made our day so much less scary and painful," she wrote. "Some kids don't have a cast of thousands cheering them on. Even those with lots of family and friends can feel like they're missing out on the holidays."

The public has until Feb. 14 to send a card to the hospital. Visit the website here to learn more.

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