Marina Middle School students enthusiastically join Norcal’s Valentine’s Day Drive for a second year. Photo courtesy of Norcal Gift From the Heart

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Two high school students have found a way to give back to young patients and their families at Shriners Hospital in Sacramento this Valentine’s Day.

Norcal Gift From the Heart Foundation’s second annual Valentine’s Day Drive is underway and preparing to shower patients and their families with handmade Valentines and hundreds of toys and teen items on Feb. 14. 

Oak Ridge High School Junior Aislynne Hartman, 16, and Ponderosa High School Sophomore Sophia Alonso, 15, created their nonprofit organization, the Norcal Gift From the Heart Foundation, in 2024 with the mission of encouraging philanthropy among students in their community while focusing on the specific support of children’s charities.

Aislynne Hartman, left, and Sophia Alonso prepared more than 300 Valentine’s Day kits for area schools. Photo courtesy of Norcal Gift From the Heart

The nonprofit Norcal Gift From the Heart organization is based out of Gold River.

“It all started with the simple idea of collecting handmade Valentines with loving messages for teens,” Hartman said. “The first year, it was just the two of us and we asked our own schools to help us make Valentines but this year, more than 12 schools in four counties have agreed to either make Valentines or collect toys for Shriners.”

While their first year was largely focused on all the paperwork necessary for starting a nonprofit organization and getting their IRS tax-exempt status, the teens shared that this year has been dedicated to spreading the word and encouraging other schools to help them reach their goal of collecting 1,200 valentines.

Co-founder Sophia Alonso, right, poses with Holy Trinity student Mary Cabaral. Photo courtesy of Norcal Gift From the Heart

To reach this goal, Hartman and Alonso created a Student Ambassador program, recruiting students from area high schools and providing them with the tools and public speaking points to launch the program on their own campuses.

“Our foundation supplies pre-made valentine kits for all the schools that want to participate. The kits include things like stickers, card-making materials and sample messages,” said co-founder Alonso. “This year, we also created a special QR code to link our Amazon Gift List to our website and social media so donors could ship a toy or teen item directly to the foundation.” Both girls agreed that their favorite part of the drive is reading the sincere personal messages and seeing how much effort kids put into making their cards.

“We hope the kids and teens at Shriners really feel all of our love this Valentine’s Day,” Hartman added. 

The girls are confident they will reach their goal of 1,200 cards this year. Photo courtesy of Norcal Gift From the Heart

Also feeling the love is Hartman’s mother, Kellie Hartman.

“Exposure to running her own business is not new to Aislynne, who spent much of her life working at her parents’ businesses growing up. Her father, Galen Hartman, owned Ground Zero Auto Body Inc., located at 11297 Coloma Road, for 25 years before transitioning to teaching auto body at Mather Center,” Kellie Hartman said. “At an early age, Aislynne learned data entry and greeting customers. I own a family law office in Gold River, where Aislynne works as a part-time law clerk. It simply made sense to start her nonprofit in Gold River, since that has always been where she spends her time outside of school and the community has always been so supportive of her family's businesses.”  

For more information or to get involved, go online to Norcalgiftfromtheheart.org or look for Norcal Gift From the Heart on Facebook and Instagram. The foundation accepts donations all year.