Yesterday, volunteers from everywhere - Hawaii to Canada to Azerbaijan - joined us to celebrate LAI's second birthday. We enjoyed games, a premier of LAI's second birthday movie, and a very special announcement!

Happy Sunday, Shreya!

I cannot believe that this day is already here - LAI is celebrating its second birthday!

When Shreya and I first started sending out letters to a few local seniors at the beginning of the pandemic as a way to spread a little cheer during a dark time, never could we have dreamed that LAI would become this amazing global organization, let alone something larger than a kitchen table project for the two of us.

As we celebrate this very special day in LAI's history, we would like to take a second to express my gratitude for this community. Something that I think is so special about the LAI community is that although we came together to uplift senior citizens, many of us have found that we too have felt more connected as a result of being part of the community. Whether it is belonging to our Facebook Group, joining our monthly Zoom parties, or emailing with us and our terrific Volunteer Coordinators, we've gotten to form globe-spanning friendships with the LAI community!

Speaking of our volunteer coordinators, we would like to take this as an opportunity to thank our volunteer coordinators - Alissa, Anne, Ellen, Paula, and Tim. Each and every one of you bring so much time, kindness, creativity and compassion to LAI. Without you all, LAI would have stopped being able to run a long time ago. Thank you for being so generous with your time and your expertise and for believing in the mission of LAI!

Lastly, we'd like to extend a huge thank you to each and every one of you. Whether you are a brand new volunteer or whether you have been with us since day one, thank you for being so incredibly kind. The words of love that you share with our seniors are so impactful, and they make such a huge difference on the days of those we serve. Thank you for all you have done to help us fight senior loneliness.

Your Volunteer ID is

We're having another incredible signup cycle. We're at over 75% completion in Canada and are on the lookout for new facilities to write to there! Let's make sure that each one of our seniors receives a letter!

Student Stamp Fund

Calling all students! Would you like to participate in LAI, but don't have the funds to buy enough stamps? This month, we hope to send 200 stamps to students all over the USA.

If you are interested in receiving these stamps, please fill out this quick form by next Friday at 11:59pm EST.

LAI Turns 2: The Movie

Wow! In our second year of operating, LAI has made some big moves! Like last year, I have put together a special movie to review and celebrate some of these big achievements - like becoming a non-profit, growing our Volunteer Coordinator Team, installing art around the East Coast, and going on national television.

In the movie, you'll hear from our grandmother, Ba, who inspired LAI. Since then, she's been a recipient of LAI's letters and she shares what the letters have meant to her. You'll hear from Shreya and I, our board members, our Volunteer Coordinators, and of course you, our volunteers, who lie at the heart of LAI.

I hope you enjoy the video and celebrate all that we have done together as this incredibly powerful group!

New Sign Up System!

We have heard the LAI community's feedback on the spreadsheet and are excited to show you our biggest project to date! Over the past 9 months, we have been hard at work developing a new webpage for signing up for letters that anyone can use.

This new system is almost ready for you all to use - we hope to start using it later this month! That said, we need your help testing it! You can practice using the new system by clicking the link below - signing up for letters, marking them sent, and even tracking your statistics.

As a disclaimer, this is a test! Please

don't write the letters you sign up for on this new website. It is ok to play with deleting signups, making comments, and favoriting facilities. That said, when we officially switch to this system, all the test data will be deleted.

We really welcome your feedback. Please submit yours through the little feedback button in the top right of the website, or via email!

We want to make sure that each and every volunteer is able to use this new system. With that in mind, we have posted a video tutorial and will be running several office hours during which you can join a zoom and ask us any of your questions. Office hours will take place on April 10 at 2:30 pm EST, April 14 at 5 pm EST & April 19 at 6pm EST.

I cannot believe that we are celebrating two years, time has flown! Thank you for being a significant part of that incredible journey. We could not have achieved what we have without you.

Have fun writing,

Saffron and Shreya

LAI Co-Founders

Letters Against Isolation