At first, the slips of paper tucked under windshield wipers were met with confusion. Could those be parking tickets? Junk mail? Upon closer inspection, the prickly Bostonian drivers saw they were valentines, and their faces turned into smiles.
Nikki Shults, executive director of Everyday Boston, said that kind of surprise kindness is part of the fun of their “Love Your Wicked Awesome Neighbor” challenge. The nonprofit has brought valentines to people across the city for the last six years through the winter card-writing campaign.
For “Love Your Wicked Awesome Neighbor,” they connect with community partners and individuals around the city to write cards with encouraging messages, jokes and artwork. The nonprofit works with 99 community partners — including schools, prisons, recovery centers, nonprofits, corporate workplaces and even a dance academy — to create the cards. Everyday Boston then collects them all and hands them out across the city on Valentine’s Day.
This year, they’ll be sharing valentines with the public at the Embrace Boston statue on Boston Common, the Roxbury Public Library and The Local Hand in Ashmont. Shults said this year’s goal was to have 5,000 cards — the current count as of Tuesday was 11,000 cards.
“People are resonating with kindness right now,” she said.
Everyday Boston’s Stephen Pina agrees. Last year he handed out cards at Boston City Hall, giving messages to city councilors and their staff.
“You never know what someone’s going through,” Pina said. “And when they get these cards … just to see them smile after reading it is a great thing.”
Pina was wrongfully convicted and spent 28 years in prison, reentering society a few years ago. He now works as a brand ambassador for Everyday Boston, helping spread their year-round mission of bridging racial, social, economic divides through the sharing of life stories.
“Everyone is in some type of prison, even on the outside,” he said. “I just think that Everyday Boston is an organization that wants to make sure these people have a smile, and not to feel so lonely on this particular day.”
