By: Howard Melamed
In these challenging times, we all depend on the dedication of those who put their lives on the line, and there is no better example than healthcare workers helping COVID-19 patients survive.
These workers put their lives at risk while isolating themselves to protect their families and friends. This pandemic sends us all in search of an inspiring message.
Parkland’s Carolina Senhorini Seixas – or Carol, is a 16-year-old sophomore from MiraLago, who decided that she needed to do something to show appreciation to everyone who works in our local hospitals.
Carol is enrolled in the pre-med program at the American Heritage School Boca Delray, and her dream is to become a doctor, and all of her teachers are practicing physicians.
Until the pandemic, Carol was volunteering at the West Boca Medical Center, so she knows firsthand how stressful COVID-19 is on healthcare workers.
This awareness motivated Carol to find a way to give back to those putting their lives at risk.
She organized her fellow students from Parkland to Boynton beach to make fabric hearts and stuff them with love, calling the project “Simply Love.”
Carol was inspired by Ação do Coração a project that has been going on in her hometown Santos near Sao Paolo Brazil for years. The idea is to spread love through the giving of hearts.
“I was thinking about this project before the pandemic. I saw how much little acts of kindness makes people [at the hospital] happy,” said Carol. “I thought it was great to get a bunch of students from my school and spread the love with personal messages in the hearts.
Wanting to do something to ‘Give Back’, Carol decided to do something similar in South Florida. Expanding on the concept, she improved the original idea by asking everyone to include a personal note inside each heart- a message of compassion and goodwill written on paper.
The students stitched and sewed the fabric – 827 hearts in all – taking a mindful 15 minutes to create each one.
This was no small feat. Over 50 worked on it including Alejandro Morales, Alexandra Jaya Kinsey, Allyson Steinberg, Angelina Days, Austin Markofsky, Avery Teman, Ayomide Abdul, Beatriz Cruz Nogueira, Capri Wayne, Chantal Peters, Chloe Hernandez, Cleo Cruz Nogueira, Cobalt Polischuk, Daelene Decena, Dominique Webb, Emerson Barry, Enzo Lucas, Grace Reilly, Guilherme Saad, Hunter Serrano, Indigo Polischuk, Isabella Mayman, Kara Lacey, Kevin Jin Jo, Layla Sapirsten, Leslie Shko Lnik, Lukas Barbosa, Maitê Collier Marinho, Marcus M Santoro, Maria Ivorra Jacomel, Michael Politoski, Michael Terrazi, Morgan Grill, Mya Whitlock, Nika Anderson, Nikita Tanguturi, Olivia Street, Rafael Romero, Sienna Polischuk Sofia Guerrero, Sofia Ivorra Jacomel, Sydney Litten, Taylor Wilson, Tyler Webb, William Domokos-Murphy, William Isreal, Zeina Shehadeh, and Zhizan Ou.
CellAntenna Corporation in Coral Springs provided the free use of their UV-C Virus Blaster Chamber to disinfect the hearts, and the kids put the hearts in plastic bags – to ensure safety.
The hearts were delivered to both the Regents Park Nursing Home and the West Boca Medical Center, where Carol volunteers. The Nursing Home and Hospital’s patients and workers loved their hearts – as can be seen in the video.
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