Valentines for Veterans

Each February just before Valentine’s Day, a group of women  get together in the wine cellar at the Norwich Inn with a mission: to craft as many valentines cards as they can for Veterans at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction.

Around 15 years ago, Norwich resident Becky Munsterer Sabky read a newspaper column about Veterans hospitals welcoming valentines from strangers for Valentine’s Day – a holiday that is sometimes cautiously celebrated, especially by those who have experienced loss or other traumas throughout their life.

Becky reached out to the VA Medical Center in White River Junction to inquire about getting involved. At first, “It was just a couple friends and me getting together,” she says. Now, the group has grown to involve lots of local women (20 participated this year); as they grew, they dubbed themselves first “The Ladies of the Upper Valley”, and then as the group evolved to be mostly women from Norwich, they became “The Ladies of Norwich”, and they sign their homemade valentines as such. “It became a social and community event that took off,” Becky adds. “It’s an invitation to friends and family to get together, craft valentines, and then deliver them to the VA hospital.”

Norwich residents and honorary “Ladies of Norwich”,
Laura Brown and Helena Gardner, show their
Valentines creations before they get delivered to the
VA medical center in White River Junction.

When the Ladies of Norwich first started making and delivering valentines to Veterans, they were able to visit the hospital and deliver the cards door-to-door. Post-Covid, some rules have changed, and now their valentines cards are delivered to the hospital and placed on patients’ lunch trays as a nice surprise. The number one rule that the Ladies of Norwich and other area Valentines-for-Veterans card-makers have to abide by is “no glitter!”. For anyone who has crafted with glitter before, you probably understand why.

But that doesn’t limit The Ladies of Norwich. From stickers and markers to crayons and cutouts, their valentines make a statement in pretty pinks, purples, and reds. For Becky and her friends, it’s as fun as it is charitable, to get together and mingle while crafting, sharing appetizers and wine. “We feel like kindergarteners again,” Becky remarks.

This year, the Ladies of Norwich made 80 valentines cards to distribute to patients at the VA Medical Center. Becky sees it as a small contribution in the grand scheme of things, but, “You do something so little, and yet it really inspires people to think about how they can think of others on Valentine’s Day,” she says. “It was hard to deliver cards to people who were inpatients at the hospital, but I felt like they were so inspirational, and it was such a little thing that seemed to brighten their day.”

The Ladies of Norwich plan to get together again soon to craft cards for Veterans for Memorial Day. In the meantime, the VA is always welcoming volunteers to interact with Veterans in a variety of ways.

During National Salute to Veteran Patients Week (Valentine’s week: February 9-15), “The community is encouraged to send in valentines for the patients,” says Karen Campbell, VHA-CM, Chief of Center for Development and Civic Engagement at the White River Junction VA Medical Center. For local information regarding this activity or opportunities to engage with Veterans, you can contact the medical center at:

White River Junction VA HCS
215 North Main Street
White River Junction, VT  05009
802-295-9363 x5392