The Everyday Pack: "Turn the mundane into the magical through the spontaneity and beauty of mail" is the tag line for our Everyday pack. I explain more below!
Know the rush of sending a card OUT OF THE BLUE?
Whenever I do it gives such a boost to my mood – even more than I anticipate. (Especially if I combine it with a walk to the mailbox on a nice day.)
Why is that? When we do things spontaneously, it gives our brains variety and makes us feel alive. It boosts our mood because it produces endorphins. (The act of dropping it in the mailbox produces dopamine.)
Not only can your mood be improved in 10 minutes, but being the recipient of a card out of the blue is obviously a delight! What’s better than unexpectedly getting a card in the mail? You have the power to make someone’s ordinary Wednesday into a treat. To insert a little joy into someone’s week – potentially a week they are feeling low (you never know, but I believe in promptings of the Spirit!).
Sept. 16-24 is Thinking of You Week. There’s a great website that was created just for this week, and I wanted to repost some of the penpal exchange resources.
I also brainstormed 10 things you could include in a Thinking of You Card, to get the wheels turning:
10 things to write about in a Thinking of You Card
1. Details about where/when you are writing from: Grace also likes to use the opportunity to do a small little sketch of the scene, with a technique called “Blind contour” – drawing from life while not looking at the paper. (Search this on YouTube if it sounds fun to you and you want a little more guidance!)
2. Recent Thoughts: Mention how the person crossed your mind and what specifically made you think of them (a song, a place, etc.).
3. Fond Memories: Write about a specific memory you both shared that makes you smile.
4. Compliments: Highlight qualities you admire about the person, such as their kindness, humor, or strength.
5. Check-in: Ask how they’ve been doing lately and if there’s anything on their mind.
6. Life Updates: Briefly share something from your life, a funny story, or something they’d enjoy hearing.
7. Gratitude: Express gratitude for something they’ve done for you or simply for being in your life.
8. Encouragement: Offer supportive words letting them know you're rooting for them, especially if they’re going through a tough time.
9. Future Plans: Mention a future activity or plan you'd love to do together, like meeting for coffee or a weekend trip.
10. Wish Them Well: Send positive vibes or well wishes for an upcoming event in their life, whether it’s work, personal, or otherwise.
Letter writing exchange programs
Grace and I don’t quite have the capacity currently to do our own penpal exchange amongst our customers, but there are so many wonderful websites and charities who have already created that infrastructure. If you’re feeling like you would get a thrill out of getting mail from other people, or committing to a weekly good deed of writing to someone who could use a card, I encourage you to check out this list!
Thanks to “Thinking of You Week USA” for putting together a bunch of great resources, including this list. You can check out their other resources here. )
General Letter Writing Groups
Brighten A Day https://www.brighten-a-day.org/ Letters to isolated retirement home residents, hospitalized patients, and frontline workers.
Global PenFriends https://www.globalpenfriends.com/index.php?page=faq Based in Australia, and running for 25 years, this is a general connection service in which children are connected to children, adults to adults, with restrictions on type of content (i.e. not for dating, etc.)
PenPal World https://www.penpalworld.com/faq.asp Note - this is a PAID connection model.
Geek Girl Pen Pals https://geekgirlpenpals.com/ Open to all gender expressions, offering digital and post communication, a free platform that also has a Patreon option for additional features.
Postcrossing https://www.postcrossing.com/ This focuses on sending postcards - there is an ID system you can use if you want to keep a connection going, otherwise it’s just random.
Worldwide SnailMail Pen Pals https://www.facebook.com/groups/267019763720515/?fref=nf This is a moderated Facebook group with 43,000 members.
Letters of Love https://www.lettersofloveglobal.com/ Started by a woman who lost her mother to cancer when she was 10 years old, there are a variety of letter-writing efforts to spread cheer one card at a time. Moms write to other moms, kids write to other kids. They have a current campaign focusing on Ukrainian families.
The Letter Project https://theletterproject.org/ An international nonprofit that sends handwritten letters to women and girls around the world in times of hardship. The community of 7,000+ letter writers send snail mail each week to uplift and encourage others.
Military
A Million Thanks https://amillionthanks.org/letter/ Send letters to military (active or veteran)
Janine’s Team https://www.janinestange.com/join/ A friend told me her father (a veteran) received a flood of cards for his 90th birthday through this organization - his photo is on their website. Very worthy option to share!
Soldier’s Angels https://soldiersangels.org/volunteer/virtual-volunteer/ This has several ways to support soldiers deployed overseas including card-writing.
Operation Gratitude https://www.operationgratitude.com/volunteer/anywhere/letters/ Letters to soldiers. Note - there is a place on the site for teachers to sign up and receive lesson plans to support letter-writing.
Medical
Cards for Hospitalized Kids The emphasis is on hand-made cards, but it’s really about the messages of encouragement. They have sensible guidelines about content to include & not include, also. https://www.cardsforhospitalizedkids.com/make-cards.html
PostPals https://www.postpals.co.uk/ This is based in the UK but welcomes cards from any country.
Cardz For Kidz https://www.cardzforkidz.org (FYI - this site does not allow purchased cards - all must be made by the writer.)
Girls Love Mail https://www.girlslovemail.com/ Letters to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
Nursing Home Card Project https://caringbycard.com Sending cards to residents of a new nursing home each month. This one is Mental Health Focused.
Letters Against Depression https://www.lettersagainst.org/volunteer Anyone can request to receive letters, and there’s some nice bits on supporting mental health.
Letters to Refugees
Any Refugee https://www.anyrefugee.org/ Postcards of encouragement to refugees around the world, coordinated in Washington, DC.
Letters to Elders
Love for our Elders https://loveforourelders.org/ Cheering up older folks who are more isolated.
Letters Against Isolation https://www.lettersagainstisolation.com/frequentlyaskedquestions Focusing mostly on seniors, there are links with tips for what to write to a stranger.
Lesson Plans for Writing Letters - resources
https://www.educatorsusa.org/5-student-benefits-of-being-involved-in-an-international-pen-pal-p rogram/ This is a paid site, but has some thoughts on the benefits of using pen pals in classrooms.
(Thinking of You Week, the Greeting Card Association, and Tiny and Snail are not affiliated with any of these groups and inclusion in this list is not an endorsement – but we are thrilled to share the list with you so you can research further into any that resonate with you!)
We truly can help shift the world to a better, kinder place, one thoughtful card at a time. Thanks for sharing this mission with us!
P.S. Do you have any experience with one of the above letter-writing programs or a different one? I'd love for you to share with all of us in the comments about how it went, or what you got/get out of it!
Looking for great Everyday cards to have on hand?
We curated a set of our 8 best-selling everyday cards and wrote a little guide to go with them about the positive mental health effects of writing cards for no specific reason.
2 comments
Thank you for these letter-writing prompts. They are so helpful!
Our daughter and I have enjoyed sending cards to the From the Heart Facebook group. The purpose is to send cards of all kinds to uplift and encourage seniors. It’s meant to be a one-way communication, although a few have sent cards back to us. It’s just a great feeling knowing that a stranger has been surprised and cheered by receiving a fun card and note!
Letters against isolation is a lovely organization that focuses on nursing home residents. Please add them to your list of letter writing groups. Seniors so often feel isolated and forgotten. A letter is often a lifeline. Thank you