Peggy Wong/studiopw.com
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There are four very special things which make Heart is Hot a very unique Valentine surprise. First, it is a vibrant red glass heart keepsake that anyone would be happy to receive. Second, it is recycled, so in a sense it is a gift to Mother Earth. Third it is reusable, which means it can be shared with many people, as it is not necessarily meant to keep forever. Fourth, it is individually registered with a special number that allows the giver and recipient to share their story of the heart with others through an online archive.
Interested? Allow me to explain further...
The Concept Behind Heart Is Hot
The Heart is Hot concept was initially created by Sahara Damore, who had got the idea from a simple glass heart decoration sitting on her bathroom sink at home. One day when Sahara came across a man seated on a bench crying, she wanted to offer him something that would boost his spirits. She was unable to find a flower shop in the area and kept thinking how perfect that red heart on her bathroom sink would have been to give him.
What Makes This Gift Idea So Unique?
Well, that idea stayed with Sahara, and in 2007 she was able to bring it to fruition. First of all, she wanted the hearts to be made of 100&perc; recycled glass. "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," Sahara says. "Considering the heart continues to move forward in its travels, I can truly say that Heart Is Hot represents re-gifting at its finest." The hearts also come with a decorative etched insignia that has a special, one-of-a-kind registration number printed on the bottom.
The recipient can then take the heart home, log onto the Heart is Hot website, type in the registration number and read a special message that the giver previously left for the recipient. This is the givers opportunity to explain what the heart has meant to them, why they are giving it away, and exactly how they feel about the person they are giving it to.
The recipient in return is then given the opportunity to reply with their own message, telling the giver what the heart has meant to them, how it has made them feel, and anything else they wish to speak from the heart (pun intended). But what makes this gift particularly uplifting and green, is when the recipient feels it is time to share the heart with someone else, they can re-package it and give it to someone else in need of a pick-me-up.
How One Heart Can Touch So Many Lives
Each time the heart is given to a new person, the trail of prevailing stories stays along with the heart and almost becomes like a sisterhood of the traveling glass heart. Each new recipient will have the opportunity to read where the heart has been before them, while they are given the chance to express their own feeling attached to the heart, and so on and so forth.
If I've peaked your interest, you can log onto the Heart is Hot website and using their custom Google map, you can track how these little glass hearts have already begun to spread over their short two years in existence to such places as São Bernardo, Brazil, Saskatoon, Canada, New York City, Seville, Spain, Seattle, Washington, Adelaide, and even clear around to the other side of the world in Australia.
While on the site, take a moment to read through a few of the touching stories attached to each glass heart. A few of the featured stories of the past include a British Columbia woman, Cindy, who received heart #524 during her bout with cancer. She then repackaged the heart and gifted it to her good friend Janice, who donated a kidney to her sickly brother.
Then there is heart #377, which went to the bedside of a young boy in a coma, and #96, which was given to a woman after losing her beloved dog, Harley. There is no limit to the ways these hearts can be used, but any which way you choose to use them, it will be something special that the recipient will never forget.
Month Of February Donations
This Valentine's February, Heart is Hot will also be donating $2.00 of each heart purchased to the Unstoppable Giving Foundation, which is raising money to help build schools in Africa for underprivileged children.
Sahara:
Paying love forward to another has offered people a chance to step outside themselves for a moment and focus their attention on giving...Often the act can give one a sense of peace and doing something meaningful in the world.
More great Valentine gift ideas:
DIY: Give Paperless Valentine's
Ask Summer Rayne: Valentine's Day Gifts
A Valentine's Dinner for Your Sweetheart: Part 1
A Valentine's Dinner for Your Sweetheart: Part 2
A Valentine's Dinner for Your Sweetheart: Part 3
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