Service Project Spreads Positivity One Card At A Time
Katerina Jimenez is on a mission to spread positivity.
This summer, the second-year Honors College student teamed with classmates, Natalia Llerandi and Angelica Pita, to form Caring Cards, a service project focused on “spreading love through writing.”
Once a month, the trio sets up a table at North Campus in the breezeway of the 4000 building. Armed with paper, pens, envelopes and stickers, they go to work, creating cards of gratitude.
“You truly see their faces light up,” said Jimenez, a pre-nursing student. “This is such a small act that [can] change someone’s day and remind them how much people care about them.”
The scholars first Caring Cards event was held on Sept. 14. It focused on making cards for Miami Dade College faculty and staff.
Approximately 40 students attended the event and 60 cards were created. The letters were hand-delivered during a two-week span.
“I thought it was nice that the kids thought of me and appreciated what I do here at the college,” said Carmen Bucher, an associate professor at North Campus, who received three cards at the event. “Especially because they were handwritten cards. I think that makes it more special. They took the time to handwrite something with their time and energy.”
Gabriel Martinez, a psychology student who participated in the initial Caring Cards event, believes the initiative is a simple opportunity to spread positivity.
“[Faculty and staff] do a lot for us and I thought this was a great opportunity to be able to tell them that we appreciate everything that they do,” Martinez said.
Each letter is made of card stock material that measures five ½ by four inches. Students can choose from colors such as red, neon pink, brown and salmon. Each envelope has a white circular sticker with the name “caring cards” engraved in black.
The group’s next event will be held on Oct. 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the building 4000 breezeway. It will support breast cancer patients who are undergoing treatment at local hospitals or were previously diagnosed as part of the campus’ Breast Cancer Awareness Month planning.
In November, the project will honor caregivers such as nurses and doctors, December will honor hospital patients and January will celebrate first responders like police officers, military members and veterans.
“We [want] the project to be universal and inclusive,” said Pita, a criminal justice student. “That way the impact can be on multiple members in our community instead of [a] specific group.”
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