HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY DEAR HEARTS!

Wishing you a day brimming with love and delight!

Thank you for all the love you put into the world & into this project! Donations were so abundant this year we were able to give 594 bountiful gift bags to residents of 14 shelters, each of which have as few as 16 - 120 families.

Incredibly you all managed to forge community and spread love in the midst of a time of great suffering for many. The gifts you made possible with your donations of stuff, money, time, and prayers are so touching. My heart is just bursting for each of you! I hope seeing these beautiful gifts brigs you a slice of the joy they brought me.

Last year I spent Valentine’s day eve with my Goddaughter, Bea who was then four and was engrossed in making Valentines for each and every kid in her class. It reminded me of how, for children, Valentine’s Day is a community holiday: cards are given to and received from the kids you like and the ones you don’t. At some point along the road Valentine’s Day takes a sharp turn towards romantic love. Because my middle name is Valentine I missed this transition. In my experience Valentine’s day was when all your relatives, neighbors, friends, and maybe your parents’ friends, might ring you up to wish you happy Valentine’s Day, or when an acquaintance might give you a card, and a gift might be exchanged with someone you have a shining for. I love that! I am not a stranger to heartache but I was shocked to discover so many people don’t like Valentine’s Day. Loneliness and painful experiences in relationships can make a festival of love sting. I am a firm believer community is the greatest balm.

For nearly a decade a group of us has celebrated Valentine’s day by making gifts for survivors of domestic abuse and trafficking living in emergency housing (shelters). 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 each year, and just bursting with joy to get to pay some love forward. This year so many are experiencing isolation and what it is to be deprived of community. When I sent out the invitation this year 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 add two more shelters to our project! 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 providing housing for those fleeing intimate partner violence and trafficking, we were also give to two shelters operated by Barrier Free Living, which serves people with disabilities fleeing intimate partner violence and trafficking.

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

With Much Love,
Emily Valentine Sottile

Even though the items in the bags are all a little different it’s important to us that all bags for each shelter have the same kind of stuff & number of things, including an assortment of “Lady Gifts” which vary from shelter to shelter. Everyone received a red zippered, re-usable tote bag including a little toiletry bag containing:
♡ Pack of antibacterial hand sanitizing wipes
♡ Toothbrush, toothbrush cap & travel size tooth paste
♡ Travel size deodorant
♡ Box of colored pencils & a pencil sharpener
♡ Monster finger puppet
♡ Pack of tissues
♡ Two razors
♡ Nail file
♡ Chocolates
♡ Valentine's day card from the Valentine Community
♡ Hand made Valentine cards from dear hearts across the country of every age and ability

In addition to the above each Valentine received an assortment of luxurious and useful gifts specific to their shelter. For example, residents at a shelter in the Bronx received: Red tote & Cosmetic bags as described above and:

♡ Warm scarf/ear warmers
♡ Earrings
♡ Lip balm
♡ Trial size perfume
♡ Additional toothbrush
♡ Body wash
♡ Lotion
♡ Eucerin
♡ Eye / face serum
♡ Room spray

If you are inspired by this and would like to join our effort to spread love on Valentine’s Day 2022, now’s a great time to collect items and send them in! The sooner the better!