Teen spreading cheer with cards to complete strangers
Any day now, a random person in Jackpot, Nevada, will receive a greeting card in the mail from a Fowlerville teenager.
People in other states have already had them turn up in their mailboxes.
Kelsi Kline grabbed her art markers and made a greeting card after school Nov. 22. The person in Nevada who will receive it does not know Kelsi and Kelsi does not know them.
She said she is mailing handwritten greeting cards to strangers across all 50 states. She is sending out one card a day until New Year’s Day.
“I wanted to write little messages to help boost their perseverance and their happiness,” Kelsi, 14, said.
The card going to Nevada features messages telling the stranger they are worth it and to believe in themselves and not give up.
Each card is one-of-a-kind. She decorates them with happy imagery, such as hearts and smiley faces.
She said she wants to see an end to bullying because she has experienced bullying herself and sees it happen to other people.
“I hope I can inspire kids my age to stop bullying,” Kelsi said. “It’s not good and you’re hurting people’s feelings.”
While she does not know their name, age or circumstances, she said everyone wants to feel like other people care about them.
“It’s just letting people know they should not give up, whether they are 90 years old or a teenager,” she said. “Everyone needs to know they just need to keep going.”
She does not include her name or return address, but she leaves her Instagram account on each letter.
“I leave my Instagram to let them know I’m a real person and it’s not something weird,” she said.
She includes the following message on her cards to explain herself:
“P.S. I don’t know you. I’m sending random people letters to let them know ... YOU’RE WORTH IT!”
She said when she was in middle school, her school did a project to inspire random acts of kindness. Students wrote anonymous messages and stuck them to random lockers.
“With all the bullying and social media, it’s important to let people know someone cares and knows about them.”
Her mom, Renee Kline, she said she is proud of her daughter. Renee helps her daughter choose addresses at random.
Sometimes she has a city in mind. Other times just a state. They do an internet search for zip codes and pick one.
“I’ll go to realtor sites and search for homes that recently sold, because that could be people who are the new kid in town or something is going on and they moved,” Renee said.
She said she figures people in transition are more likely to need a boost.