Monday, January 1, 2018

2018 "Cards From the Heart Card Drive"


Happy New Year! It's time for the 9th Annual Valentine's Day Card Drive! 


It's my blogs 9th anniversary, so as always...it's time to celebrate by having a Card Drive!

Last year's Card Drive was another HUGE success! We collected 7,268 cards and sent them to 21 hospitals, 2 foster homes and 1 nursing home! I'm praying that this years card drive will touch many more kids hearts this Valentines Day! 


As always, here are some of the guidelines from the hospital's and a few of mine. 
(Please read all rules carefully.)

* Cards need to be a Valentine theme ONLY!

* Cards can't have anything about 'Get Well Soon', 'Feel Better', or anything reminding them of being sick. (Only Valentine Cards)

* Please make cards that can be used for any gender or age. 

(This could be a little tricky, but I think you can handle it!) :)

* NO buttons, glitter, glitter pens, glitter glue, stickles, wink of stella, sequins, rhinestones, brads, googly eyes, or anything that looks glittery or can be pulled off and become a choking hazard. This is the hospitals rules! I know that some of the products that look glittery may seem harmless, but the hospital said NO glitter, so that's what we will do! 

* Cards MUST be able to fit into a 4 1/2 X 5 3/4 envelope (A2 size, but can be smaller, just not bigger). I CANNOT use them if they are bigger! (I will provide clear envelopes for each card, so there is no need to send an envelope with your card.) The clear envelopes make it easier when they hand them out to the kids.

* You can include a message in the inside, but please remember, nothing reminding them of being sick. (Maybe just a Valentine sentiment.) You can also sign your first name and what state you are from ONLY, no last names and cities! No religious sentiments either, as most of the hospitals are non denominational in their beliefs. 

* And Do Not add your blog addresses, email address, or your  website to your cards! Some hospitals have rules against patients knowing who the donors are.

*I will be excepting cards for the whole month of January. (Jan. 1 - Jan. 31) I have to have them in my hands by Jan.31! Please do not send any after that, because I have to send them off early, so they will get to the hospitals in time for Valentine's Day. And please make sure you allow enough time for shipping as well. 


*And Please NO smoking around the cards! You may not realize that they smell like smoke, but they do and it could effect the children who are already sick!

*Please send cards to me at:


Winter Sims
"Cards From the Heart Card Drive"
P.O. Box 754
Warren, TX 77664

*You are welcome to use the Card Drive badge on your blog to spread the word, just remember to save it to your computer first.
*If you have a hospital in mind that might want some cards, please send me the contact info and I will email them.

I know it seems like there are A LOT of rules, but they are the hospital's rules and we want to obey them, to keep the kids safe. So I hope you will join us again for another great year and help us put some smiles on those sweet kids faces on Valentines Day! :)


I'm a little sad to say that there won't be any prizes or sponsors this year. I hated to share this on this post, since it's suppose to be happy, but my family and I suffered a house fire in October and lost our new dream home and everything in it! :'( (I'm sure I'll share the story with all of you at another time, but we are all safe, that's the most important thing!) At the time that it happened, I was unsure if I would even have enough strength to have the Card Drive, since my heart was broken! But through a lot of prayer, strength from the Lord, and support from my family, I decided, to continue to have it this year! As you can imagine, I have A LOT of responsibilities with insurance and building our new home, and all the other responsibilities I had before, so for me to be able to have the Card Drive, I had to eliminate something this year to make it a little easier on me. I put a lot of thought into this and I feel this is the best decision for this year. We will start the prizes up again next year.
I hope you all understand. 

I just really wanted those precious kids to get their cards this Valentine's Day! 
Please send your name, address, and email address with your cards, so I can update all my records since I lost the ones from the previous years. I sure would appreciate it! Thank you!

If you have any questions, please just send me an email at:

wintersims1@aol.com

Have a Blessed New Year!,

~Winter

12 comments:

Marge said...

So sorry to learn of the loss of your home. Bless you for your perseverance in this most worthy cause. Please do not give the prizes a second thought as I doubt that many of us participate for that reason anyway.

Mike DezinesbyEM said...

Great cause, I will participate. Is it ok to promote this on my 2 Facebook Groups I run so more people can join?

Mike
DezinesbyEM
Https://www.DezinesbyEM.blogspot.com

Mary-Anne V said...

So glad you are doing this again this year Winter! So sorry to hear about the loss of your house but I am happy to hear everyone is alright. Will be praying for you and your family as you look forward to a new beginning in 2018! I will be working on some cards with my kids again this year! Hugs!

Anonymous said...

HI Winter. I heard about your card drive through Teresa and Splitcoaststampers. Looking forward to making cards for this wonderful cause. Bless you for doing this, especially at such a trying time. I pray that God will have everything move along smoothly as you recover and rebuild.

Ann said...

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your house! God bless you for deciding to go ahead with this "ministry". Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and hope that you will find joy in creating a new home for your family!

Karen McAlpine said...

I will be making cards for the drive again this year. So sorry to hear about your house! Sending a virtual hug. Will keep you in my prayers. Hope all goes smoothly with the new house. Take care.

~amy~ said...

Winter, you are such a sweet person.
I'll post about it on my blog and will send some cards over to you.
💚

MaggieB1983 said...

Oh Winter, I am so sorry for the loss of your home. The same thing happened to one of my brothers but the most important thing is that you and your beautiful family are safe and sound. God always has a plan for us, doesn't he? The prizes are really not important, but being able to brighten the day of children is something altogether special. Thank you for finding the strength to run this program again this year (the first year I've known about it). I'll keep you and your family in my prayers. ~HUGS~
#kindnessmatters

Carole W. said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your house, Winter. I will keep you in my prayers. And, I will certainly make some cards to send your way for the card drive. I had my nephew make a few when I was staying there over the holidays--he got lots of new art supplies and it was a good excuse for me to get to play with his new pens and such! Hugs to you and thanks for all your hard work on this amazing card drive!

Julie S said...

Wow, I can't believe you're taking this on with everything else on your plate. What a gift you are! This is the first year I've heard of your card drive and I'm thrilled to be able to participate as I love making cards. Additionally, I'm a preschool teacher. I would love to have my littles participate and feel the joy of doing something kind to make other kids smile. Would it be appropriate to send cards they make as well?

Wishing you all the best as you and your family power through this.

Stacy Roberds said...

Hi Winter! I'm excited to be participating for the first time in the card drive. I would like to make the cards as special as possible so I wanted to verify the use of a couple things. It is acceptable to use Glossy Accents on the cards and or Jelly Roll GLAZE pens? Not the glitter pens, but the ones that give a little shine accent. Also I wanted to use velvet and foil paper. Would that be ok? Thank you so much for your tremendous efforts! I'm so sorry to hear of your loss and I truly hope 2018 gifts you and your family with many wonderful things.

airbornewife said...

Hi Winter.. I have a big package full of cards heading your way today. I am in Washington State. They are coming via Priority Mail, so they should be there in time {I hope so}.. thank you for doing this! blessings ~ Pam