SWFL-based nonprofit Hearts of Hope helps those struggling with grief

A local nonprofit organization is helping those in need of some hope.

The Hearts of Hope started after 9/11 and helps those who are facing loss.

The group needs people to get their healing art program out there. The group is hoping to create 10,000 hearts of hope to send to communities and families in need.

The group starts with a block of clay, then it gets rolled and smoothed out and then it gets cut with the heart-shaped cookie-cutter.

When the heart is made, it’s sent to people all across the nation.

“We like to say that we create hope and you know it sounds so pie in the sky, so big. But when you look at what we’re doing here today and what we do every single day, we do create it, we’re making it,” said Judy Pedersen, founder and executive director of Hearts of Hope.

Pedersen founded Hearts of Hope after 9/11 to help those facing loss. The program is based in Port Charlotte but the hearts are sent all over the world.

Four high school students saw that need and decided to spend their summer helping out.

“I’m actually making an impact in people’s lives that really need it and who are going through something so difficult,” said Adriana Iordifa, an intern at Hearts of Hope.

Brandon Schneider, also a summer intern, said the hearts help people feel better when they are in their darkest place.

“The hope is the desire that there is good, that there is better, that there is a next and next, can be better,” Pedersen said.

The program also provides grief counseling resources and education about grief and loss.

Since 9/11 Hearts of Hope has sent more than 200,000 hearts.

If you would like to support their cause, they can always use more volunteers and donations. For more information, visit their site.