Similar to the lyrics of the song “Jingle Bells,” which speaks about making spirits bright, entrepreneur Jessica Wilson has a project designed to brighten the holiday season for seniors.
Wilson, founder of SparkJoy Cards, has launched a charity project that will involve school children writing in specially prepared cards to be distributed to seniors living in homes, and possibly, qathet General Hospital.
According to Wilson, this past year she was in the YMCA youth entrepreneur program and won first place in the business pitch competition, which supported her to bring SparkJoy Cards to life. With her new card company, one of her projects is to connect children with seniors over the winter holiday.
“It is my mission to give millions of hugs in envelopes across our nation, bringing joy and connection to those who need it,” stated Wilson on her website.
She said at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of isolation in the community. At the heart of what she is doing is making connections, starting with her own community. To launch her campaign, Wilson will be starting here in the qathet region at a pair of School District 47 schools.
“My cards will be going to Westview and Henderson elementary schools and the students will be writing messages,” said Wilson. “Then, I’ll be delivering the cards to care homes. My inspiration was to make connections in a time of isolation in the best way I know how.”
Wilson said she designs and creates the cards herself and gets them printed.
“They are all ready and I’m going to drop them off at the elementary schools,” said Wilson. “I’m donating 200 cards – 100 to each school. I’ve been coordinating with the principals and they have been coordinating with the teachers. It is going to be grade three and up.”
When asked what kind of messages she hopes the children will send, Wilson said children have a way of speaking with more wisdom than people are often aware.
“The invitation for the children is to write something they think will bring joy to the person who receives the card,” said Wilson. “It can be a quote, it can be a message, it can be a picture, or anything that comes to them. I want to leave it up to the imaginations and creativity of the children because a lot of magic comes through them.”
Wilson is planning to drop off the cards to the students in the second week of December. After the children have had an opportunity to fill out the cards, she’ll pick them up and distribute them. She said she has been in touch with the manager of the Coastal Breeze facility, and she is excited, because winter is a hard time for the seniors, because they can’t get out as often.
Wilson said she also wants to find out if she can send cards to seniors who are in hospital during the holiday.
“I’m hoping to bring some joy to people who will be the recipients,” said Wilson. “I’m hoping it will bring care, connection, and my hope is that it will inspire other people as well to reach out to people who might be isolated or lonely, or just wanting to hear from you over the holidays.”
Wilson said for the other cards she sells through her business, she is hoping to get them into local stores, and they are available online. A portion of the card sales will go back into the seniors project so it can happen every year around the holidays.
People wanting more information can go to Wilson’s website at sparkjoycards.com.
