Rockland high school students spread kindness through 'Letters with Love'
Albertus Magnus students deliver thousands of handwritten cards to seniors, community workers, and organizations across the region since starting in January 2025.
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High school students in Rockland County are working to brighten the days of strangers through a growing project called “Letters with Love.”
The initiative began in January 2025 when Albertus Magnus High School senior Johncarlo Mandara and his friends delivered hundreds of handwritten cards to a local senior living center before Valentine’s Day.
“In such a digital age, you know, we have social media and different things. It's really important and refreshing to see a handwritten gesture where someone's taking the time to make a card,” Mandara said.
He added that the reactions from seniors made it clear the project needed to continue.
"You know, their reactions was really so profound. I knew this wasn't a one-time thing," said Mandara.
Since then, Mandara says more than 2,000 cards have been delivered to dozens of locations.
Fellow student Antonella Caraballo Pelaez has been part of the effort as well.
“We want to leave something of an impact that everyone feels,” she said.
News 12 was there on Monday as the students wrote more cards at the New City Library, as well as when the students dropped them off to show appreciation for “community heroes." Those heroes inculcated the Clarkstown Police Department and the town’s Parks and Recreation employees.
Staff members smiled and thanked the students as they handed out the notes.
The group has expanded its reach beyond Rockland County. Their letters have been sent to areas in New Jersey and New York City, including schools, hospitals, juvenile detention and rehabilitation centers and veterans’ organizations.
The students say they plan to continue the project even after graduation. According to the group, the leaders of “Letters with Love” hope to bring the idea with them to college in the fall while also working to keep it active in Rockland.
Mandara was also given a certificate of congressional recognition for this effort.
