{"id":269,"date":"2010-01-27T20:50:58","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T20:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catchingfireflies.com\/blog\/?p=269"},"modified":"2010-01-27T20:50:58","modified_gmt":"2010-01-27T20:50:58","slug":"woodward-talk-feature-12710","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.catchingfirefliesgifts.com\/blog\/2010\/01\/woodward-talk-feature-12710\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodward Talk Feature 1.27.10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some Love for the Seniors<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Gift shop asks residents to create valentines for assisted living homes<\/span><\/p>\n

By Jeremy Selweski<\/p>\n

\"Woodward<\/a> <\/p>\n

Photo by Edward Osinski<\/p>\n


\nThis Valentine\u2019s Day, Berkley gift shop Catching Fireflies is asking
\nresidents to create handmade valentines for local seniors, owner April
\nMcCrumb, seen here, will be accepting donations through Feb. 11.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BERKLEY \u2014 With Valentine\u2019s Day fast approaching, Berkley gift shop
\nCatching Fireflies is asking the community to create handmade
\nvalentines for local seniors.<\/p>\n

Through Feb. 11,
\nresidents of all ages can donate colorful cards showcasing hearts,
\ncupids and other symbols of love, which will be distributed to a pair
\nof assisted living homes just in time for Valentine\u2019s Day. The new
\n\u201cShare Some Love\u201d project is part of Catching Fireflies\u2019 efforts to
\nbrighten up the frigid and often dreary mid-winter months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis
\ntime of year can be a little sad or depressing for some people,\u201d said
\nApril McCrumb, owner of Catching Fireflies. \u201cWe thought this was a
\nreally simple way to help cheer up some of these seniors. Besides, who
\ndoesn\u2019t like getting a little extra something special in their mailbox?\u201d<\/p>\n

McCrumb
\npointed out that in an age when so many people communicate via e-mail,
\ntext message and social networking sites, they often forget how nice it
\nis to receive a handmade gift from someone who cares.<\/p>\n

In
\nexchange for three or more valentines and the purchase of any store
\nitem, Catching Fireflies customers will also receive a free heart photo
\nmagnet \u2014 bearing the phrase \u201cThe heart that gives, gathers\u201d<\/a> \u2014 as a
\nspecial thank you.<\/p>\n

Once all the cards are
\ncollected, Catching Fireflies will deliver them to seniors at St.
\nAnne\u2019s Mead Senior Community in Southfield and Sunrise Senior Living in
\nRochester. Cecilia Mrock, activities and volunteer coordinator at
\nSunrise, said the facility\u2019s 90 residents would be \u201cthrilled\u201d to
\nreceive valentines from people in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cA
\nlot of our seniors don\u2019t get any mail on Valentine\u2019s Day,\u201d she
\nexplained. \u201cOften- times, they\u2019ve lost a lot of family members or their
\nfamily lives far away. They can get pretty lonely, which is why they
\nget so excited whenever they get any new mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

In
\nthe past, Mrock pointed out, seniors at Sunrise have received
\nValentine\u2019s Day cards from students at local elementary schools. Now,
\nCatching Fireflies will be joining that tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s
\nso delightful for our residents, especially when the kids come in to
\nsee them,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s something they really cherish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrock
\nadded that when the weather gets a little warmer, she plans to take the
\nseniors for a visit to Catching Fireflies\u2019 Rochester store, which is
\nlocated right down the street from Sunrise.<\/p>\n

About
\ntwo weeks into the Share Some Love project, McCrumb said that she had
\nalready received at least four or five dozen valentines at the Berkley
\nlocation. She has been especially impressed by the level of creativity
\non display and the amount of time and effort that residents have put
\ninto their cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not looking for overly
\ncomplex artwork \u2014 it can be really simple,\u201d she noted. \u201cBut a lot of
\npeople have really gone above and beyond. I\u2019m overwhelmed with the
\nquality of cards we\u2019ve received so far at the Berkley store. We could
\nsell these!\u201d<\/p>\n

For McCrumb, Share Some Love is a
\ngreat example of what Catching Fireflies hopes to achieve: In addition
\nto offering an array of whimsical gifts, the store is trying to put
\ntogether community outreach projects that encourage its customers to
\nget involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to give people a lot of
\nfun activities to do and maybe help some people out along the way,\u201d
\nMcCrumb said. \u201cIt\u2019s cold outside right now, so it\u2019s more fun to do
\ncrafty things inside like this. You\u2019re not only using your imagination,
\nyou\u2019re also creating something special for someone who will be very
\nappreciative of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catching Fireflies is
\nlocated at 3117 W. 12 Mile Road in downtown Berkley. For more
\ninformation on the Share Some Love project, call (248) 336-2030 or
\nvisit www.catchingfireflies.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n