LEOMINSTER — Love is in the air all over North Central Mass thanks to a businesswoman with a big heart.
Jenn Callahan distributed a whopping 819 balloons this week to seniors in the area for Valentine’s Day, the result of many generous community members and her matching their donations through Lofty, her balloon and event décor business. This is the third February in a row the city resident and her kids have gone out and delivered balloons to hundreds of people in the region who call assisted living facilities home.
They returned to spots in Leominster including Sunrise Senior Living, Benchmark Senior Living at Leominster Crossings, Life Care Center of Leominster, Manor on the Hill and The Gables in Fitchburg, and Fitchburg Healthcare Center. In addition, they brought smiles to the faces of residents at Nashoba Park Assisted Living in Ayer, Life Care Center of Littleton, River Terrace Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Lancaster, and three locations run by Aspire Living and Learning, two in Leominster and one in Gardner.
“I recognize so many faces now and look for friends we’ve made,” Callahan said of her and her children making connections with many of the recipients through the thoughtful gesture. “We love Mr. White at Manor on the Hill, and our friends Leo and Mr. Dymek at Leominster Crossings — Mr. Dymek always has Kit Kats to share — the incredible Dr. Joe Cronin at The Gables, and Pauline at Nashoba Park who recently turned 100!”
The balloons come with heartfelt cards made by students in the area, youngsters in various class levels from St. Bernard’s Elementary School and Reingold Elementary School, both in Fitchburg, and Johnny Appleseed Elementary and St. Leo School in Leominster, the latter two being schools Callahan has kids at.
Callahan reported that she has “some incredible friends” who are happy to help her put together the large-scale community effort that has now become an annual tradition.
“They come and help assemble everything but this year with our number being so big there were some people that really stepped up,” she said. “Chelsea Buhts, a friend and second grade teacher at Johnny Appleseed, has been my biggest cheerleader and motivator. When the numbers got bigger than I expected and I started to get nervous she was right there saying ‘we got this.’
“She organized the cards from the students at Johnny Appleseed and took balloons home and inflated them and came back for more,” Callahan continued. “Tracy Reardon, a friend, neighbor and kindergarten teacher at St. Bernard’s Elementary took on the card organizing at St. B’s. It was my first time reaching out to them and she came through with 200 handmade cards.”
In addition, this year she reached out to fellow balloon artist Jill Carignan, who owns The Little White Bounce in Sterling, for assistance.
“I threw kind of a desperate plea at her for help and her response was ‘I can help for sure,’” Callahan said of the fellow female entrepreneur. “I also had members of the community who I don’t know offer to do deliveries. We took on three new locations this year, so their help was crucial to getting these all delivered on or before Valentine’s Day.”
She disclosed that Sunrise Senior Living Activities and Volunteer Coordinator Lorrie Brodeur told her, “this time of year with the bitter cold and the snow is very hard.”
“A lot of residents don’t get many visitors because of the weather so it’s the perfect timing for our event,” Callahan said. “The community stepped up to let our seniors know they are cherished and not forgotten.”
When asked what the reaction is from the seniors when they receive the Valentine balloons along with the sweet cards, Callahan said “so beautiful.”
“Lots of smiles and interactions with the kids and sometimes we even get tears,” she shared. “Everyone is always so thankful and even surprised that we are there to give them something. It’s the smiles on the residents faces that keeps me coming back.”
Callahan said friends, family, community members, even strangers stepping up time and time again to generously help make this happen leaves her “in shock every year.”
“Because of this amazing community our elders feel loved, remembered and celebrated. It shows that compassion and kindness are alive and well in our town and far beyond. We had donations from Las Vegas, Virginia and across Massachusetts. It’s so touching to see the same people donate year after year and so exciting to see new people find out about the event and react so positively.”
Beyond all that goodness, Callahan said there is a deeper meaning behind all of this giving back that she feels — and it means the world to her as a mother.
“It’s important to me to keep this going because it teaches my five children to think of someone other than themselves. To see what they have around them that they can use to benefit someone else, in our case that’s balloons. And that acts of kindness are worth repeating over and over.”
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