To many it could appear to be a greeting card company’s gimmick to boost sales.
In fact the term “Hallmark” holiday is appropriate, considering around 180 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, according to a February 2011 billshrink.com article.  This statistic does not even include boxes of Valentine’s Day cards given out in elementary school classrooms.

An estimated 196 million roses were produced last Feb. 14, according to an aboutflowers.com article published after Valentine’s Day 2011.  Flower prices also skyrocket during the February holiday, making this the third-best holiday for florists.

There have been many versions of why we celebrate Valentine’s Day, and the founding of this day is based on one or more Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine.  In modern times it is a special day for people to express love and dedication to those they hold dear.

This year we would like to offer this worthwhile option to celebrate Valentines Day- give to those in need!  Give freely and openly to children living at homeless shelters, to homebound elderly people facing the end of their life cycle, to your co-worker who may be struggling to keep the lights on. Volunteer by finding an organization that needs some extra help such as our local animal shelters, or teaching individuals to become self-reliant.  Our community is packed individuals with many needs and we can help them with little effort on our part.