By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
In the week before winter break, North students filled out thousands of holiday greeting cards with handwritten messages of kindness for area hospital patients.
This annual tradition, which blends physical education with community service, produces between 2,500 and 3,000 holiday cards each year.
The effort goes back 50 years to the Nelson Nedde Free Throw competition, named for a former physical education teacher who started the contest in 1975. Twenty-six years ago, current physical education teacher Jason Feid and colleagues decided to add a community service component to the winter break tradition, and students began making cards by hand to send out to local hospitals.
After using reams of paper to craft hundreds of cards, Feid reached out to American Greetings to see if the company would be willing to donate any unsold holiday cards. To Feid’s surprise, the woman he spoke with added an extra zero to the 10,000 cards he requested, and 100,000 holiday cards arrived on a pallet at NAMS.
“We’ve been using those throughout the years,” said Feid. “We have a few boxes left – and I have five years until retirement – so I’m hoping we can make it until then.”
This year, Feid said students made just under 3,000 cards, with 1,000 of them going to patients at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro. The remaining cards are distributed to the American Heart Association for patients at Miriam Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital, both in Rhode Island. Others are shipped to a NAMS employee’s daughter who works at a hospital in Colorado.
“Sturdy patients felt the extra warmth this holiday season,” said Danielle Fish of Sturdy Health’s public affairs and engagement team. “We’re grateful for the partnership with Jason and his students – young people whose kindness and care brought smiles to patients and staff alike.”
The cards are delivered on trays to patients at lunchtime. Paul Voccio, director of food services at Sturdy Health, said the joy this small act gives patients provides the positivity they need as they navigate an illness or recover from a procedure.
“For patients having to spend the holiday season in the hospital, a little extra cheer is always welcome,” said Voccio. “They’re delighted and surprised to have something special arrive on their meal tray all throughout the week, and many leave them on their table as a decoration. It gives them hope.”
Students made the cards during three physical education periods in the week leading up to the winter break. Each class rotates through the free throw competition and other activities – including ping-pong, gaga ball and board games – and then spends time writing cards at a designated station. The goal is for every student to complete at least three cards, though some go far beyond that.
“We have some kids that do eight, 10 or 12 [cards],” said Feid.
To keep the messages welcoming to everyone, the school prints 25 non-denominational greetings for students to choose from. Each card includes a picture, the student’s first name and last initial, and the physical education teacher’s name. A return address makes it possible – and common – for patients to write back.
Parents who received cards while in the hospital after welcoming a new baby have replied with pictures of their newborn, and elderly patients who are alone for the holidays often express their gratitude in letters.
Feid shared the story of a 90-year-old woman from a Rhode Island hospital who wrote to thank the student and called the card her “favorite gift of the season.” When the thank-you note arrived, the student who wrote the card was surprised to realize she actually knew the patient – who didn’t recognize the student’s name because only a last initial is provided.
There have even been moments when parents or relatives of school staff unexpectedly received cards made by NAMS students during their own hospital stays. These stories, Feid said, remind students their small acts of kindness can travel farther than they imagine.
“Everyone on our food services team commented on how great they were and how exciting it was to deliver them to patients,” added Voccio. “Many of our patients are local residents – the cards are a great way to help them feel connected during the holidays.”