Boxes of Love will once again be delivered to homebound seniors in Barton & Pawnee counties. This is the third year for this project, and is a collaboration of United Way of Central Kansas, ElderCare Home Services, Meals on Wheels, and RSVP/Volunteers in Action. Partnering together, these non-profits work to brighten the day and warm the hearts of hundreds of seniors throughout Central Kansas.

Each box is filled with items for these seniors, some of them just for fun, and some practical items. Items include stationary and cough drops to shampoo and conditioner. Due to the size of the box and transportation of the packages, we do request that items be travel sized. Each box also gets topped off with homemade Valentine’s Day cards made by children at Great Bend Children’s Learning Center and Caring Hands Daycare.

The project is already off and running with donations from Dillon’s, Thrivent Financial, and Midwest Energy. Thanks to these generous donations each box will have chocolates, stamps, and night lights included.

If you would like to make a donation to Box of Love to show love to a homebound senior this Valentine’s Day, you can drop off your donations at: Clara Barton Hospital, University of Kansas Health System- Pawnee Valley Campus, First Kansas Bank (Hoisington & Great Bend), Trinity Lutheran Church, Sunflower Bank (Ellinwood & Great Bend), and Farmers Bank & Trust.

If you don’t have a chance to run to the store to make a donation, cash donations are accepted and will be used to purchase items for each box. Please make checks payable to United Way of Central Kansas, 1125 Williams, Great Bend, KS 67530.