Milton Arts Guild delivers HeartsNeedArt donations
As part of its HeartsNeedArt program, Milton Arts Guild members delivered dozens of artistic hearts for patients at Bayhealth’s Milford and Dover campuses, and for Meals on Wheels clients at the Milton CHEER center.
The HeartsNeedArt program, a Texas-based organization, provides creative support to patients and caregivers. Over the course of three months, Milton Arts Guild’s artists and gallery guests (who are encouraged to make a heart) have produced more than 1,500 hearts created from paper, textiles, wood, and even marble.
The MAG HeartsNeedArt initiative is the brainchild of Jenn Johnson, community liaison, who reached out to the organization to create a program specifically designed for the Sussex County community.
“Benevolence is a core part of MAG’s mission,” Johnson said. “This program is the perfect marriage of our mission and our art. We have already delivered hundreds of hearts to people in the community who are either in hospitals or homebound. We hope it lets them know they’ve not been forgotten.”
The first sets of hearts were delivered to Jenni Bobel, Bayhealth’s supervisor of volunteer services, and Rhonda Cannon, Milton’s CHEER site manager.
“Many of our Meals on Wheels clients spend a good amount of their days alone,” said Cannon. “Our special delivery people are a high point in their days, and the hearts add such a special treat to their deliveries.”
MAG holds monthly heart-making parties at its gallery at 107 Federal St. in Milton, where artists gather to talk and create their hearts to add to the ever-growing basket of hearts to be delivered.
“We often have patients at the hospital who do not have visitors,” said Bobel. “Our volunteers are there to make connections – in addition to those already made by our care teams – to ensure patients have a wonderful experience. Having these hearts gives them an extra opportunity to delight our patients with something unexpected and heartwarming.”
For more information, go to miltonartsguild.org.
