Henrico County hopes to bring some Valentine’s Day cheer to residents of long-term care facilities in the county and is aiming to tap into the creative skills of the local community to support the effort.

The county is collecting homemade Valentine’s Day cards for the Spread the Love initiative sponsored by Henrico’s EngAGE program, which serves older county residents, their families and caregivers.

Sara Morris, Henrico’s advocate for the aging, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly difficult for long-term care residents and their family members.

“The past year has been challenging for all of us, but especially for our loved ones living in long-term care facilities,” Morris said. “We want to ‘spread the love’ to our friends in these facilities for the Valentine’s Day holiday and invite everyone to create an original card to show their care for these members of our community.”

There are 8,000 long-term care residents in Henrico, Morris said, and she hopes to provide a homemade card to each of them through the initiative.

To participate, individuals and groups of all ages are encouraged to dig into their craft supplies and be creative. Cards should have a general message and not be intended for a specific person or gender.

Completed cards should be mailed to Henrico EngAGE; Attn: Sara Morris; P.O. Box 90775; Henrico, VA 23273-0775. Cards need to arrive by Friday, Feb. 5, to allow for distribution to long-term care facilities in time for Valentine’s Day on Sunday, Feb. 14.