LOVELAND, Colo. — The giant red letters spelling out LOVE are one sign you’ve arrived in Loveland, Colorado. But the sculpture outside is just the beginning of how this town is sending love all over the world.
This year marks the 75th year of the Valentine Re-Mailing Program, where volunteers stamp valentines sent in from across the country and around the world and then send them on to their final destinations.
“We do around 100,000 to 150,000 pieces of mail per year,” Mindy McCloughan, President of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, told Denver7.
Cards are stamped with a specially designed cachet and sent along to all corners of the world.
“We have covered 110 different countries and 50 different states,” McCloughan said.
All teh envelopes are stamped by hand by the senior volunteers.
“It’s a big thing,” said volunteer Darline Rivas.
It’s also a hard job to get. Rivas said it took her 10 years of signing up until a space freed up.
“If someone else wants to do it, they’ll have to wait until I’m gone,” she said with a laugh.
In 2021, the re-mailing program does look a little different, with stampers more spread out and working shifts. Organizers say even a pandemic can’t stop them from their tradition of sending out love.
“That’s the least we could do is share a little love around the world in times like we just suffered in this last year,” McCloughan said.
