Across Methuen, kids and adults came together with a solitary mission – to make homemade Valentines for local seniors and veterans.
Students from the Methuen YMCA, Chang’s Taekwondo, Methuen Rec Department, MHS Scholarship Fund, St. Monica’s School, Tenney School, Methuen Karate, MHS Alpha Program and the Comprehensive Grammar School contemplated the best ways to share a little love in a single note. Meanwhile similar efforts were taking place in eight nearby communities.
Finding the origin of the program took some sleuthing. It wasn’t the school; it wasn’t the multiple Aroma Joe’s that participated. The Valentines program began at Methuen’s Texas Roadhouse with Local Store Marketer Kristen Snay. She engaged her colleague Amber Fleming in the heart-sharing concept. Snay, who is responsible for community outreach, parsed through her lists of public schools, instructional academies, clubs and rec centers to see who might participate by creating Valentines for people they most likely might never meet. She called senior centers and veterans affairs offices to determine whether they would appreciate the community’s artistic efforts.
Next, she set out – with her management’s blessing – to supply the groups with all the materials they would need to make the cards. She scheduled pick-ups and delivery dates. Then she added a final event, a Kids Night Valentine project Feb. 12 at Texas Roadhouse. It was one last chance to share some love by making cards specifically for veterans and seniors who visited the restaurant Feb. 14.
Ultimately the program reached seniors, veterans and their supporters in nine cities and towns. Artists came from 26 schools, clubs and groups, six Aroma Joe’s, and several creative individuals without a group affiliation who simply wanted to be part of the endeavor.
On Feb. 3, it was as if Cupid arrived at the Methuen Senior Center bearing a sack of love and laughs. Hundreds of original-artwork cards and colored pages were spread out on a table along with trays of famous Texas Roadhouse rolls and salad. Seniors thoughtfully pored through the cards and selected a favorite based on embellishment, design or message. One card blessed veterans. Another complimented the recipient’s heart; one hoped the recipient would find a very wealthy love to give them everything their heart desired. Others were more abstract, missing key letters in the word “Valentine,” but the underlying message was always the same: “You are seen and loved.” That message obviously resonated as seniors timidly asked if they could perhaps take one or two more to share with others.
The day after the Senior Center delivery, Kristen Snay reported that the community had been so generous with their time and talents, that the center had enough cards to tuck into each Meals on Wheels order destined for a local senior.
Owner Jen Silva of Aroma Joe’s in Bradford expanded the Texas Roadhouse Valentine Project to include six independently owned Aroma Joe’s. Her location boasted dozens of handmade cards as displayed here by baristas Madison Jameson (left) and Juan Defex.
Employees of Black Bear Asset Management utilized a 10-minute break to create Valentines for seniors and veterans using art supplies provided by Aroma Joe’s of Salem, N.H. Shown are (clockwise from bottom left) Aroma Joe’s Regional Manager Ashley Walshaw, Aroma Joe’s owner Scott Zielfelder, barista Annmarie Freeman, and Black Bear employees Alfio Sergi and Alex Garcia.
