HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY DEAR HEARTS!

Wishing you a day brimming with love and delight!

Donations were so abundant this year we gave 594 bountiful gift bags to residents of shelters for people fleeing domestic abuse and trafficking. Thank you for all the love you put into the world!

CHECK OUT THE 2021 GIFTS HERE

I hope seeing these beautiful gifts brings you a slice of the joy they brought me.

For children Valentine’s Day is a community holiday: cards are given to and received from kids you like and ones you don’t. At some point Valentine’s Day takes a sharp turn towards romantic love. Loneliness and painful experiences in relationships can make a festival of love sting. I am a firm believer community is the greatest balm. Since 2012 the Valentine Community has celebrated St. Valentine’s Day by making gifts for survivors of domestic abuse and trafficking living in emergency housing. This truly is a stone soup kind of project! I always end up smitten with the diverse and dynamic community that opens its heart to make it all happen, and just bursting with joy to get to pay some love forward. This year so many are experiencing isolation. When I sent out the invitation I wondered how we could possibly pull it off, but true to form this extraordinary community shifted, and grew, and poured out love with such abundance that we couldn’t help but share the love with more valentines! In addition to the eight Safe Horizon shelters in NYC, two Sanctuary for Families shelters in NYC, the Elizabeth Freeman Center in the Berkshires, and My Sister’s Place in Westchester, we were also give to give to residents of two shelters operated by Barrier Free Living, which serves survivors of domestic abuse and trafficking with disabilities. Incredibly you all managed to forge community and spread love in the midst of a time of great suffering. The gifts you made possible with your donations of stuff, money, time, and prayers make my heart glow!

However you mark this day I hope you make a point of giving and receiving love in abundance! 

With Much Love,
Emily Valentine Sottile

P.S. Collection for Valentine’s Day 2022 starts February 14, 2021. We can accept donations year ‘round and would love to get donations in over the summer to be able to a jump start on sorting and packing. Check out the PARTICIPATE page to learn how to get involved.