Associates at Honda’s East Liberty Auto Plant took a meaningful approach to Valentine’s Day this year and planned downtime at the plant to pursue a project in a strong showing of love, support and a personal touch for community residents spending the holiday in local long-term care and nursing home facilities.
The Honda associates joined together to create more than 1,100 handmade valentine cards that were delivered to 10 different facilities in Logan, Union and Champaign counties at the end of January, so that the creative and thoughtful notes could be enjoyed by residents all month-long just ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Jennifer Rizzo, human resources partner at ELP, said she and her fellow HR staff wanted to put together an associate engagement activity during planned shutdown and electrification changes being implemented there. The valentine idea came to her mind early in the New Year, with Rizzo remembering when her parents had been in a nursing home for rehabilitation, how important personal visits and notes were to them when they were away from home.
“We want to be good partners for our community and to support the area where our associates live and work,” said the Bellefontaine area native and 37-year Honda employee, who now resides in Delaware, Ohio. “We want the residents of the nursing homes to know we’re thinking of them and we care about them, and to make them feel a little more at home.”
Associates at the East Liberty Plant were provided with all of the essential crafting items to make the cards, from construction paper to markers, scissors and glitter glue, and their creative and artistic sides quickly came out.
While initially Rizzo and the fellow HR team came up with a goal of creating about 250 cards, the associates quickly took ownership of the project and surpassed that goal. The number of handmade cards grew from 500 to 800, and then well over 1,000 cards, each with their own unique design.
“The variety of cards really amazed us. There are funny cards with a play on words, and ones that are cute or sentimental. It was really nice for me personally to see how the associates really became invested in it and wanted to show kindness and pay it forward,” Rizzo said.
Two office support staff and a Honda retiree were charged with delivering the valentines on the last week of January to the long-term care facilities. In Logan County, the valentines made their way to Logan Acres Senior Community, Ayden Healthcare of Belle Springs, Otterbein Green Hills and Indian Lake Rehabilitation Center.
The special notes also went to The Gables of Marysville, Walnut Crossing and Monarch Skilled Nursing and Rehab in Union County; and in Champaign County, the handmade cards were delivered to Heartland of Urbana, Spring Meadows Care Center and Vancrest of Urbana.
Following the deliveries, the Honda associates even received a surprise of their own, as residents of Ayden Healthcare of Belle Springs created cards and sent them to the East Liberty Plant employees.
“This gesture of love went full circle; that was really neat,” Rizzo said.
