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Argentina. Iraq. New Zealand.

These are just a few of the faraway countries sending record numbers of evalentines to patients at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as part of the annual Valentine’s Day program.

This year, more than 220,000 valentines arrived electronically after a tweet by a teenage girl in Eastern Kentucky went viral.

“Valentines have arrived from across the world including six continents, 114 countries and all 50 states,” said Liz Smith, manager of Annual Giving at Cincinnati Children’s. “We are so very thankful to everyone for their thoughtfulness.”

As a result of the overwhelming support, employees are partnering with other groups across the medical center to blanket the hospital and satellite locations with printed and digital valentines. Child Life facility dog Leica got in on the fun distributing valentines from her work vest.

Fiveyearold Cohen Bramlee is spending Valentine’s Day as an inpatient at the hospital. He got a huge smile on his face when organizers delivered a stack of valentines to his room.

“It’s amazing,” said Carrie Bramlee, Cohen’s mom. “In the hospital, it can feel lonely at times. So it’s incredible to think there are people outside thinking about us and want to spend their time to send a little note to us.”

The hospital usually averages a few thousand ecards per year. The program launched in 2014 as a way for folks to send wellwishes electronically to reduce the spread of infection.

You can continue to send well wishes at https://giving.cincinnatichildrens.or....