'Be My Valentine' brings hearts, smiles to isolated older adults in Essex County

Robin Caudell, The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
·1 min read

Feb. 14—ELIZABETHTOWN — "Be My Valentine, a project of the Essex County Office for the Aging, brings smiles and hearts to isolated adults in the county for the second year in a row.

Last year, the agency collected more than 800 cards and photographs.

"One of our staff kind of just thought about the idea and ran with it really," Krissy Leerkes, director of the Essex County Office for the Aging, said.

"It was very successful last year. Clinton County picked up the same program. Since it was so successful and so well received by the older adults in the community-at-large, we figured we would continue it this year. I think it definitely brings a warm smile to their face knowing that somebody in the community that may not even know them took the time and the effort to create a cards for older adults. Many are handmade."

Many area school students create Valentines, again in many cases, they are handmade.

"We had members of the community send them in," Leerkes said.

"County employees sent them in. Our service actually received a few calls from community members wishing that we would do this again around Christmas time and so that is something we will definitely implement."

It's not too late for people to send a Valentine's Day card to an older adult.

"What we do and what we have done is that they will go out to all of our home-delivered meal clients," Leerkes said.

"We will get that to many of our Congregate Nutrition sites. We will deliver to nursing homes, assisted living, senior housing areas, and then just any other older adult that we come in contact with."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell