The Collective and Lives through Letters team up for Valentine’s Day
Members of Central’s pen pal club, Lives through Letters, show off the homemade cards they created at The Collective. The cards will be distributed to Elkader Care Center residents for Valentine’s Day.
Lives through Letters members work on making homemade Valentine’s Day cards for Elkader Care Center residents. Thanks to The Collective, the group could use supplies like watercolors, crayons, markers, pipe cleaners and paper.
Nine group members made 15 cards at The Collective, and they planned to work on more before Valentine’s Day.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
While scrolling through Facebook one day, checking in on the local happenings, Jillian Herrmann, a board member for The Collective art gallery in Elkader, came across a post by Hailey Funke, an associate at Central and staff sponsor for the new Lives through Letters pen pal program that has been bringing smiles to Elkader Care Center residents since Christmas.
Funke was looking for cards and supplies so students could keep developing those pen pal relationships. While reading the post, Herrmann saw an opportunity for collaboration, and expressed interest in getting involved.
From there, it was a simple matter of getting approval from the board, which was the easiest task, especially since the Central club and The Collective share a common mission. To Herrmann, it’s a common vision in bringing art and wellness together.
“The mission behind Lives through Letters felt connected to our mission at The Collective. We loved hearing about the youth using letters to connect with and uplift care center residents,” Herrmann said.
The club was invited to The Collective to design handmade cards using supplies provided by the art gallery, including watercolors, crayons, markers, pipe cleaners and paper. Cards will be distributed to care center residents in time for Valentine’s Day, further promoting the idea of connecting generations through words.
While the idea of making cards at The Collective isn’t a new idea, as the organization has set up a handmade card craft table during holidays, working with the club was a new endeavor. Part of the inspiration behind inviting the club was because it offered an opportunity for the gallery to “give back” and “provide a special experience” for youth in the community.
Herrmann also said, “It’s always fun to encourage and inspire the arts and have new faces in the gallery.”
Among the new faces was Hannah Friedlein, who joined Lives through Letters after receiving an email, and through a desire to “connect with other people.”
During the card making, she enjoyed the acrylic pens the most and making heart stamp cards. Friedlein attended with an overall goal of “making everyone happy,” and so the care center residents “can feel valued.”
Another face at the table crafting cards was Blair Scherf, who enjoyed getting to see the creativity of others and the cards they came up with. Scherf worked on a pop-up card made of paper, which consumed the majority of her time due to its difficulty, but the end product was well worth the effort.
“Going down to The Collective was very fun,” she said. “I think being able to read a letter or look at cool homemade cards would be really cool for [residents]. They can learn more about us while we learn more about them. A homemade card is also very heartfelt.”
Zoey Hyde started the Lives through Letters club and also enjoyed the opportunity to go to the gallery and experiment with materials, including watercolor, which proved a popular choice among the group.
“I enjoyed having the opportunity to be creative with many different materials, and learn and explore unique ways to create cards. It was also an experience I can take and use in the future, which is amazing,” Hyde said.
Nine members showed up for the card making. During their time at the gallery, they made 15 cards, but were going to work on more before they were delivered.
The club has grown since its formation and the pen pal program has been well received. Several members have gotten letters in return, including Scherf, who received an eight-page letter from her care center pen pal, which allowed her to learn “many cool facts” about her pen pal’s life.
The Valentine’s Day cards are another extension of the club’s efforts to connect generations. As Hyde put it, “This increases the impact it has, and that’s amazing.”
“We appreciate the involvement and support the community has been showing for this initiative,” she added.
Support comes from places like The Collective, who read the post on social media and reached out because it was an avenue to demonstrate how “the arts and culture go hand-in-hand with everyday wellness.”
“Working together to open the door to imagination, to inspire, to provide a physical space for artists to connect with each other and the general public,” Herrmann said.
The collaboration with Lives through Letters was an “amazing” experience that left Herrmann “feeling inspired.” So did watching the group’s creative process, knowing the end results were going to a good cause.
“We at The Collective are passionate about art, and knowing we could help these youth deliver handmade cards to connect with another generation felt great,” Herrmann said.
