AUGUSTA, Maine — Handwritten Valentine's Day cards are being delivered to 800 hospice and nursing home residents in five states courtesy of Girls Scouts in Maine.
Nurses, social workers and chaplains began distributing 4,000 valentines to patients approaching the end of life at facilities in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
All told, 70 Maine Girl Scouts participated. About half of them, from age 5 to 16, will deliver cards personally on Friday at Lakewood Continuing Care Facility in Waterville, Maine.
The program is the brainchild of Kelly Herlihy, a volunteer coordinator at Beacon Hospice in Augusta, Maine. She says, "small gestures make a difference."