2015 CARING HEARTS CARD DRIVE

Hi all. The weather is getting cooler and holiday time is right around the corner. We are back for the 6th year for our annual Caring Hearts Card Drive. The purpose of our card drive is to collect holiday cards for the elderly that lives in nursing homes. I started this card drive 6 years ago, in 2010 in honor of my mom. That first year, we collected 750 cards. And each year it continue to grow bigger. Last year we received over 17,000 cards and branched out to Australia!! It was such an amazing year.

Jennifer McGuire and I are excited to continue this journey and we really hoping that we can bring holiday cheers to many, many more nursing homes. 

We have a few ladies helping us in collecting the cards. Tina Schrof is working with Jennifer in collecting the cards. Since international shipping is expensive, those of you in Canada can mail your cards to Anita or Caroline and they'll distribute the cards. And, for those of you in Australia, you can send to Linda. :)

The holidays are about family, kindness, and joy. During this time many of the elderly who lives in nursing homes would really feel the loneliness or missing their family. Wouldn't it be so awesome if we can bring a smile to their face & brighten their holiday season simply by sharing our love of card making? A simple gesture to let them know that they are not forgotten. That someone still thinking of them.

We all love making cards and what’s better than knowing our creations can bring a smile to others, right? Some helpful people already agree to help us deliver the cards to selected nursing homes.

A few important details:

• This card drive will be going on from October 3 to November 27, 2015. We need to receive your card by November 27, 2015.
• Please make the cards for Christmas or Holiday Wishes. Anyone can send a card, your children, church group, scout troops, etc.
• All cards need to have a message in it (it can be stamped or hand written).  
• Please sign your name and where you are from (inside the card). 
• Please include an envelope for each card and please don't seal the envelope.
• Please stick to just cards (standard size A2 or 4-1/4" x 5-1/2")
• And please don't use any pins (safety reason).
• This is totally optional. But, if you'd like to include $1 or $2 to help with shipping, it'll be much appreciated. We cover the shipping cost ourselves, with no sponsor, so any donation toward shipping would help tremendously.

You can mail the cards to:

• Vera Yates, 1314 Roy St., Houston, TX 77007                              
• Tina Schrof , 185 W. Pugh Drive,  Springboro, OH 45066
• Linda Langes, c/o Gilston State School, 588 Worongary Road, GILSTON QLD 4211, Australia
• Piney-fine, Attn: Anita, P.O. Box 30,  Piney, MB R0A 1K0, Canada
• Caroline Bredeson, 7 Brown Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 1L9, Canada                
  

In each package, PLEASE include THIS SUBMISSION FORM.  This helps us in keeping track for prizes! For each card you send, you will get a chance.  So the more cards you send, the better your chances. 
To thank you for your generosity in supporting this drive, we have several PRIZES ready for several winners. There will be many winners and remember… the more cards you send the better your chances. :)

Also, if you 'd like to help us promote the card drive, whenever you're sharing your projects for Caring Hearts on social media, please use the hashtag #caringheartscarddrive. Hey, wouldn't it be so cool if we can make kindness trending?

Edited to add: The nursing homes that we supported are based on what people suggested to us. If you want your local nursing homes to receive cards from the card drive, please email me or Jennifer the name of the nursing homes and the number of residents, so we can make sure that we send enough cards. Each year, we never know how many nursing homes we can support as the number are totally based on how many cards we received. To keep things organized, we assigned the 5 collecting addresses above. This way we can keep track of the amount of cards as well as for prize purpose.

I'll update the prize list as more prizes coming in. And huge thank you to all the fabulous, generous companies who support this card drive by donating awesome prizes.

Altenew - $30 GC

Avery Elle - $30 GC

a2z Scrapbooking - $25 GC

A Jillian Vance Design - $20 GC

Butterfly Reflections Ink - $25 GC

Clearly Besotted - £30 (approx. US $45) GC

Crafter's Companion USA - $25 GC

CutCardStock.com  - $50 GC

Ellen Hutson - $50 GC

Gina K. Designs - $100 GC

Hallmark Scrapbook & Crafts - $50 GC

Hero Arts - $50 GC

Honey Bee Stamps - Two $25GC

Jane's Doodle - $75 GC

Jennifer McGuire Ink - 10 fabulous stamps from her favorite company

 Jennifer McGuire - Online Card Classes -  class of your choice - 3 winners

Just Dandy Studio - $25 GC

Latina Crafter - $40 GC

Lawn Fawn - $50 GC

Lil' Inkers Designs - $35 GC

Litte Things from Lucy's Cards - 8 bags of Sparkly Shaker Selection

Mama Elephant - $25 GC

Mint Owl Studio - $25 GC

My Favorite Things - $50 GC

Neat & Tangled - $50 GC

Newton's Nook Design - $25 GC

Organize More - $75 GC

Paper Smooches - Two $25 GC

Pink & Main - $25 GC

Pretty Pink Posh - Two $25 GC

Ranger Ink - $50 Prize pack

Reverse Confetti - $25 GC

Richard Garay - Celebration Prize Package

Sarah Rigby (Stampin Up!) - $25 GC + $25 gift pack

Simon Says Stamp - $50 GC

Spectrum Noir  - $25 GC

SugarPea Designs - $25 GC

Sweet Stamp Shop - Two $25 GC

Taylored Expressions - $50 GC

Technique Tuesday - You're So Sweet Stamp Set

The Ribbon Resource - $20 GC

The Ton Stamps - $25 GC

Tim Holtz - $100 prize pack

Verve Stamps - $30 GC

Waffle Flower Crafts - $65 GC

Waltzing Mouse Stamps -  £25 (approx. US $38) GC

Winnie & Walter - $50 GC

Wplus9 - $50 GC

Paper Crafter's Corner - Box of goodies $75 value

I will update the prize list as I get more. :) Please feel free to share about this card drive. We really appreciate your support & generosity. Let's rock this card drive and bring Christmas joy to as many nursing homes as we can!! Thank you. 

PS: Thank you to Chaitali Narla for designing the badge. :)