By Jiordan Castle

Published Feb 9, 2017

Updated Dec 23, 2023

What’s red, pink, and chocolate all over? Valentine’s Day, of course! While February 14th may strike most of us as a day for romantic love, it’s also an opportunity to help those in need, get creative, and be a part of something bigger. There are plenty of ways for property managers to show residents love on Valentine’s Day, but why not take it a step further and help residents do something for the greater good?

Whether your initiative is spreading cheer across the children’s ward of a local hospital, collecting book donations, or helping pets in need, we have several ways for you to make Valentine’s Day into a day of doing good this year.

Make valentines for sick children

It’s as easy as setting up a craft station in a common area or handing out card-making supplies at the front desk of your property. For the low, low price of some construction paper, markers, stickers, and one quick drop-off to your local children’s hospital or children’s ward, your residents can easily (and creatively!) send sick children a thoughtful note.

Start a food drive on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day may only be one day, but you can stretch that love a bit further by kicking off a food drive on February 14th. Let residents know that they can donate canned goods and other necessities at a designated drop-off spot at your property. Again, it’s an incredibly simple and inexpensive way to help feed those in need. Either partner with a local food bank or shelter, or consider teaming up with our partner Move for Hunger to get some tips and start your own food drive.

Give a book! Or two, or three… 

Did you know that February 14th is International Book Giving Day? That’s right! With your help, residents can donate brand-new (or gently used) books to local libraries, schools, hospitals, shelters, and virtually anywhere else with a good chair and someone in need of something to read. Simply set up a collection spot somewhere at your property and promote it in advance of Valentine’s Day or starting on Valentine’s Day.

Make valentines for veterans and deployed service members

Another good way to participate in giving back on Valentine’s Day: by making valentines for veterans and troops overseas. Soldiers’ Angels is an organization that provides care packages, letters, and other means of support to deployed service members and veterans, and though they receive countless Valentine’s Day cards addressed to service members and veterans, it’s simply too costly to distribute all of them. So this Valentine’s Day, ask residents to donate a dollar along with their card — which covers the cost of packing and mailing boxes of valentines — so that every card can reach deployed troops overseas and VA hospitals. It’s simple, inexpensive, and goes to a great cause.

Provide relief to homeless dogs and cats

Your property doesn’t have to be pet-friendly in order for residents to help cats and dogs in need this Valentine’s Day. In fact, it’s easy to help through the Petfinder Foundation, an organization on a mission to end the euthanasia of adoptable pets by assisting animal shelters and rescue groups across the U.S. To direct residents to donate to the Petfinder Foundation, you can include a link to their donation page in a newsletter or in your resident portal, or (if residents are comfortable with it) collect cash donations and give the lump sum directly to the charity.

The great thing about collecting donations or making cards is that there’s no time constraint; doing good can happen anytime, anywhere. So consider skipping some of the candy this year, and instead, spearhead a charitable Valentine’s Day initiative that helps everyone.

Offer residents something else this Valentine’s Day: a streamlined move-in experience with Updater.

Jiordan Castle

Jiordan is Updater’s former Digital Content Manager. Here content specialties are renters and homeowners insurance, cloud technology, and all things moving! She eats pizza every Friday and never buys a new iPhone until her current one breaks.