MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Residents at NHC HealthCare in Maryland Heights are just one of the nursing homes that received an outpouring of love in the form of Valentine's cards.
The Bret Mega morning show on Y98 FM began this heartwarming tribute and it quickly gained momentum.
"It ended up being 19 schools over 6,000 valentines handmade by kids from pre-K up to high school. We went and drove to 19 different schools, collected them from 19 different schools and then we delivered them all over St. Louis as well," radio host Bret Mega, said.
Nicole Biermann, a teacher at St. Joseph School in Imperial, Missouri, was among those inspired by the radio host's call to action after hearing the show on her way to work.
Mrs. Biermann arrived to work after hearing the show and she ran inside the school to share. "I said, Sister Carol, who's my principal, I said, we've got to do this as a school."
Ms. Biermann's kindergarten class poured their innocent imaginations into crafting heartfelt messages for the elderly residents. St. Joseph School enlisted nine other schools to join them on the journey of generosity.
"Their energy was contagious and just pure joy, Mega said. "The level of understanding they had blew us all away."
Dorothy McClendon, an NHC resident whose eyes sparkled with joy, reminisced about her late husband, Kirk, as she received the colorful tokens of affection.
"He was the love of my life. He was so sweet," she fondly said.
The thoughtfulness of the children's gestures overwhelmed McClendon.
"Oh, it was so nice. It just really touched my heart."
Another NHC recipient like Dr. Kathleen Vaughn, said "I got to read some of them to Pearl, who is 101. She can't see, so I got to read her a lot of the cards," said Dr. Vaughn, emphasizing the profound impact of the students' gestures.
Brett Mega expressed his gratitude and determination to continue the tradition. "We're going to do even more next year," he said, underscoring the enduring power of love and compassion to bridge both hearts and generations.
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