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Hearts of PG swept the world in 2020

It's all about the love for this 2020 Prince George Citizen newsmaker of the year nominee.
Bailey Grose
Bailey Grose is seen here with her daughters Olivia, 7, and Claire, 5, who inspired her Hearts of PG campaign asking everyone to put hearts in their windows as a way to connect with others during the pandemic. Hearts of PG took off across the world with millions of people connecting in this very simple way. Handout photo

It's all about the love for this 2020 Prince George Citizen newsmaker of the year nominee.

Hearts of PG is a movement that started in March when one local mom wanted to keep her two young children engaged and connected with the community as everything was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bailey Grose was heartbroken to see her littlest daughter lament over having to stay home. Claire, who was four at the time, missed her friends and the craft table at school.

So putting crafts and a reason to get outside together, Grose posted a request on social media for people to put hearts up on their windows and then as she would take her two girls out for walks in their neighbourhood they could be on the hunt for hearts and make their own to decorate their windows.

During the pandemic, the Hearts of PG movement has crossed the globe where millions of people have taken part and groups like the one started in Bismark, North Dakota called #aworldofhearts has millions of followers and organizers credit 'that Canadian girl' for the idea.

There was one recent incident that really brought home how far reaching the Hearts of PG has become.

"I swear I'm not 100 but I watch Coronation Street all the time and the other day I noticed they had hearts in their windows and I just thought 'oh my goodness - wow. Wow, that's so interesting - I made an impression on my favourite show!'"

The whole intention of Hearts of PG was to make connections with the neighbourhood and hopefully the rest of Prince George, she added.

"I never thought it would get to this scale where it would be all over - I got a photo sent to me from Antarctica - it's all pretty incredible," she said.

For her efforts, Grose was recently honoured by the local YMCA with their Peace Medal, which is given to individuals or groups during YMCA Peace Week to recognize the impact as community minded people provide PEACE, which stands for participation, empathy, advocacy, community, and empowerment, without any special resources, status, wealth or position and have made significant contributions within their local, national or global community.

Grose would like to further contribute to the community's well being so she reached out to Upnorth, a business that takes inspiration for their hand-crafted items from their surroundings, who created an ornament that features their signature talents of wood burning. The image is that of a house and in its window is a heart. Grose knows seniors can be especially vulnerable to the coronavirus and may feel particularly vulnerable during the holiday season so $5 of every ornament sold will go to the Prince George Council of Seniors, a non-profit organization that runs multiple programs that assists local seniors by offering friendly phone calls, Christmas food hampers, meals on wheels and a resource centre to help address all seniors' needs. Information about how to purchase the ornament can be found at can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Upnorth-104674874260771/.