A campaign started in Nanaimo has swept around the world as a way to show support and love in a community during social isolation. (Melanie Dennison‎/Hearts in the Window)

By Alex Rawnsley

HEARTS IN THE WINDOW

Nanaimo woman leads charge to ‘spread the love, not the germs’

Mar 29, 2020 | 6:57 AM

NANAIMO — The simple gesture of placing a heart in the window of a home in a Nanaimo neighbourhood has had profound impacts in communities around the world.

Natasha James created the Facebook group Hearts in the Window on Friday, March 20 and shared it with 30 friends and family. A week later, over 100,000 members had joined the group from around the world.

The group shares photos of hearts and other artwork placed in windows to show support, solidarity and community during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

“People that were starting to self-isolate and be home would be able to walk through their neighbourhoods, count hearts through the windows,” James said. “As they go down the road…it goes beyond just them being on a walk, to them being part of a community.”

The community has extended beyond living room and business front windows.

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“Friday (March 27) was garbage day on our road, the garbage truck had a heart in the window, the driver honked at every single house that had hearts in the neighbourhood. For the last hour I’ve been listening to his garbage truck honking as he drove through the neighbourhood.”

The impacts of the group have extended well beyond the Nanaimo and mid-Island region’.

“We get posts from Germany, Alaska, Mexico, Nova Scotia, all over the world messages and posts from people who are doing this in their communities,” James said. “I’m moved by all the love, it just exceeds anything that I could have imagined would have become of that group.”

James added in the new era of social isolation, fostering a sense of community can have tangible impacts to people’s lives, particularly her two school-aged daughters.

“We get lots of messages from other kids that they walked by our hearts,” James said. “We’ve had people draw hearts on our driveway…they’re seeing a little piece of their friends, family and community.”

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley