El DORADO HILLS – Two high school students have found a way to give back to young patients and their families at Shriners Hospital this Valentine’s Day. NorCal Gift From the Heart Foundation’s second annual Valentine’s Day Drive is underway, preparing to shower patients and their families with handmade Valentines and hundreds of toys and teen items on Feb. 14.
El Dorado Hills’ Oak Ridge High School junior Aislynne Hartman and Shingle Springs’ Ponderosa High School sophomore Sophia Alonso created their nonprofit, NorCal Gift From the Heart Foundation, in 2024 with the mission of encouraging philanthropy among students in their community while focusing on supporting children’s charities.
“It all started with the simple idea of collecting handmade Valentines with loving messages for teens,” Aislynne shared. “The first year, it was just the two of us, and we asked our own schools to help us make Valentines. But this year, more than 12 schools in four counties have agreed to either make Valentines or collect toys for Shriners.”
While their first year was largely focused on the paperwork necessary to start a nonprofit and obtain IRS tax-exempt status, the teens shared that this year has been dedicated to spreading the word and encouraging other schools to help them reach their goal of collecting 1,200 Valentines.
To accomplish this, Aislynne and Sophia created a student ambassador program, recruiting students from area high schools and providing them with the tools and public speaking points to launch the program on their own campuses.
“Our foundation supplies pre-made Valentine kits for all the schools that want to participate. The kits include things like stickers, card-making materials and sample messages,” shared co-founder Sophia Alonso. “This year, we also created a special QR code to link our Amazon gift list to our website and social media so donors could ship a toy or teen item directly to the foundation.”
Both girls agreed that their favorite part of the drive is reading the sincere personal messages and seeing how much effort kids put into making their cards.
“We hope the kids and teens at Shriners really feel all of our love this Valentine’s Day,” Aislynne Hartman added.
The following schools participated this year and helped make Valentine’s Day cards for Shriners: SAVA Vocational Academy High School, Oak Ridge High School, Christian Brothers High School, Western Sierra Collegiate Academy, Vacaville High School, Holy Trinity Catholic School, Marina Village Middle School, Golden Hills Elementary School, Buckeye Elementary School, Sacred Heart Parish School and McKinley Montessori School.
The students and volunteers will deliver Valentines and toys to Shriners Hospital in Rancho Cordova on the morning of Feb. 14. Afterward, they will pick up roses provided by Wish of a Lifetime’s “Cupid Crew” to surprise Creekside Oaks Retirement Community and Country Squire Senior Mobile Home Park, both of which helped make Valentines, with flowers.
For more information or to get involved, visit NorcalGiftFromTheHeart.org or find NorCal Gift From the Heart on Facebook and Instagram. The foundation accepts donations year-round.
