There’s nothing better than getting a card in the mail and, in the digital age, good old-fashioned snail mail has become something of a novelty.
Jurgita Fumo, founder of Celebrating One, knows the power of a handwritten note and spearheaded a letter writing campaign that made a huge impact when COVID-19 hit.
Celebrating One is a nonprofit organization based in New Albany that promotes empathy through human connection and celebration. There are five programs put on by the organization, including support groups and the letter writing campaign.
Fumo started the letter writing program a year and a half ago to send a little extra encouragement to those who participated in support groups.
“I would send one or two cards a month, handwritten from me,” she says. “It’s a personal touch just to let them know someone’s thinking about them. It’s something nice to find in the mailbox besides the bills or other unhappy mail or junk mail.”
Word got out about the notes, and suddenly Fumo was inundated with requests for letters to loved ones or people in need. She realized the workload was too much for just one person, so she added the Send a Card campaign to the list of programs.
“When I got to the point of over 100 (cards), I said OK, that’s it, I need help,” Fumo says. “That’s how the card program was born.”
When COVID-19 hit in March, there was another influx of requests for cards. People from all over Columbus reached out about friends, neighbors or loved ones who needed encouragement and something to look forward to due to sickness or financial difficulties.
“Because of the quantity right now, we do general quotes, inspirational quotes,” she says. “Just to help them to keep moving forward. It lets them know they’re not alone, and that somebody somewhere cares.”
Celebrating One writers manage to write a huge quantity of cards, averaging more than 300 per month. They do this by partnering with groups such as the New Albany Rotary Club and school groups to write the inspirational messages. Then, Celebrating One volunteers do the confidential work of addressing the cards to their recipients.
“It’s therapeutic for the people that write because sometimes writing motivational and encouraging quotes gives you what you need as well,” Fumo says.
The letters make a huge impact on both writers and recipients and encourage the spirit of paying it forward.
“The best thing is that sometimes people say, ‘I just resent your card because I had it on my fridge for so long and one of my friends was going through something, so I put it in an envelope and sent it to them,’” Fumo says. “It makes it easy to give forward.”
Celebrating One
Fumo founded the New Albany-based nonprofit organization four years ago. The concept was born out of her event planning and party supplies business. Fumo often had customers who wanted to have a celebration for a birthday, graduation or milestone, but didn’t have the funds to do so.
“It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what can I do?’” Fumo says. “So, I would give them discounts on supplies and things.”
One particular customer was a woman who wanted to have a gathering to celebrate the homecoming of her premature baby.
“She wanted balloons, so I just took them there,” Fumo says. “The hug is what she appreciated the most. So, I thought everybody deserves a balloon.”
After that, it became the charitable initiative of her business, and when the initiative outgrew her business, it became a nonprofit of its own.
“I thought, ‘If I’m going to get more people involved, then I can help more people,’” she says. “I went and registered it as a charity, and we went from there.”
The name Celebrating One comes from the idea of celebrating one person at a time.
“I had about 180 reasons to celebrate achievements and milestones in a person’s life,” Fumo says. “We forget to celebrate our own achievements – we don’t stop to actually pat ourselves on the back.”
Celebrating One now runs entirely by volunteers and supports five programs. Besides letter writing and support groups, which are now virtual, Celebrating One has the Keep Moving Forward program, Celebrating Senior Citizens program and Celebrating Graduation program.
Last spring, Fumo still provided party supplies to eligible graduates and families of graduates so they could celebrate graduation despite the pandemic.
Money raised for the Keep Moving Forward program was used in March to support families across Columbus who were struggling at the start of the pandemic.
“We had the budget and we decided to use that to support the families in the school district with food and other needs,” Fumo says. “We delivered 23 boxes to 23 families the week after schools closed.”
Celebrating One isn’t slowing down any time soon. Fumo hopes for the program to reach a national level eventually.
“I need to dream big because my dreams come true. I’m a lucky person,” she says, laughing. “First, we grow deeper, and then we will grow wider. Yes, I want to go nationwide, but I’m not in a rush to do that.”
Until then, Celebrating One will continue to make a difference here in central Ohio. To get involved or nominate someone for a card, visit www.celebratingone.org.
“Be kind, listen and care,” Fumo says. “Don’t be afraid to open up to strangers. Share your story; you’re going to help someone without knowing it.”
Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
