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Buckeye Love Month kicks off with Ohio Union event

Ohio State community came together to craft handmade messages

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and a handmade card can make a lasting impression. For the second consecutive year, The Ohio State University Office of Student Life hosted "Cookies and Cards with Cheryl" to kick off Buckeye Love Month.

Buckeye Love is part of Student Life's Kindness Initiative, a year-round effort that includes events such as the annual Be Kind Food Packaging project, the Grow Kindness plant giveaway and the recent Brutus Buckeye 60th birthday celebration.

"Cookies and Cards with Cheryl" brought the Buckeye community together at the Ohio Union last Wednesday to make handmade cards for family, friends and loved ones. The event was held in advance of National Send a Card to a Friend Day, observed annually on Feb. 7.

"Anytime anyone gets a card anymore, it is really special," said Cheryl Lyons, director of Student Life Disability Services, whose card-making skills inspired the event. "Someone took the time to buy something and address and put a stamp on it. It's a process. A handmade card, it takes it up a notch. Someone put in their time, their care. They were thinking about you while they were making it."

During the Buckeye Love event, students, faculty and staff gathered at tables in the Cartoon Room, crafting cards out of colorful construction paper, heart-shaped appliques and Brutus Buckeye stickers. Participants who couldn't attend in person have ordered supplies to host their own events, said Tracy Stuck, assistant vice president of Student Life.

"We just keep expanding," she said. "All five regional campuses are doing it this year, too. We're all so excited about it."

Gabby Lewis, a human nutrition major, said she participated in the event last year and discovered that arts and crafts activities can be a stress-reliever.

"I had a good experience with this organization last year and I also really enjoy making cards for my family and friends," she said. "It was really relaxing. That's why I was like, 'Okay, I have to do it again.'"

Lily Wang, a graduate teaching associate majoring in education, said the Buckeye Love event offers an opportunity to make cards for many occasions.

"I try to make cards for my friends, and one of my friends' birthdays is next week," she said.

Ria Martins, a graduate research associate majoring in environmental sciences, said she has found that friends appreciate handmade cards with personalized messages.

"I'm going to give [a card] to my friend," she said. "Her 'love language' is words of affirmation. So giving something physical to her in words, it's going to mean a lot to her."

Sonia Romdhane, a housekeeping manager on the Columbus campus, has coordinated members of her team to participate in the card-making event for the past two years. The activity promotes camaraderie, she said.

"I try to bring everybody. They say, 'Let's go!' They are so happy," she said. "They ask me, 'When do we have the next event?' They're so excited."

Candice Williams, a member of the housekeeping team who is also a Special Olympics athlete, said making cards is a fun way to connect with people.

"It helps me have a good day," she said. "I like to make them for my family, my friends, my co-workers."

For John Sohl, a facility operations specialist, making a card for his wife Janet took on a special significance this year. Sohl said he made a card expressing to Janet how much she means to him after she battled health problems and underwent a successful bone marrow transplant at The James.

"It was two years of going through a lot of things. You find out you married the right person - spending a third of a century with the right person," he said. "You have to be able to say those things."

Buckeye Love was originally focused on romantic couples who found love on campus, but has evolved into a celebration of kindness and mental health support, Stuck said. This year's celebration will include random acts of kindness and a variety of programming.

"This is a way to uplift campus," she said. "I think what's beautiful is faculty, staff and students and the community all come together. We have about 32 programs we're doing this month. There's so many people that are meeting each other for the first time. That's the power of connection."

For more information about Buckeye Love and upcoming activities, visit the initiative's website.

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