Community Corner

7-Year-Old Twin Girls Provide Comfort Through Cards

Through their Encouragement and Care Ministry, Carsen and Jayden Forte' serve the community by providing creative and inspiring notes and crafts to comfort people in need.

When a person is in need of a little encouragement, 7-year-old twins Carsen and Jayden Forte’ look for the nearest crayons, markers and construction paper and set to work.

Through their Encouragement and Care Ministry, the Lake in the Hills residents are committed to serving the community by providing creative and inspiring notes and crafts to encourage people in need.

“My sister and I came up with the idea mostly because we want to serve others,” Jayden said. “And we love arts and crafts.”

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“We like serving others and making them feel better,” Carsen added.

The girls decided to launch the community service ministry after seeing the joy their cards and drawings brought their grandfather when he was in the hospital battling cancer.

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“We would sometimes decorate his room,” Jayden said. “He’d wake up and be surprised.”

The ministry is also based on their Christian faith and the belief that they should be an encouragement to others.

The twins’ mother, Shelly Forte, calls the endeavor “penpalling with a purpose.”

“We talk about why we’re here—is it for our own purposes or are we here to serve others and show love to our neighbors?” she said. “And who is our neighbor? The girls know that’s everybody. And just because we don’t know them, it doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from the encouragement of a young child.”

Through the ministry, a parent may sign up a terminally ill child to receive notes of encouragement and care, or adults might sign up their aging parents who they think might find a little joy in the occasional note, card or artwork from a young person.

Lake in the Hills resident Michael Derrick is one adult who has taken advantage of the ministry. His 86-year-old mother, a widow dealing with some health problems, has received two cards with pictures and personal notes from the twins.

“(She) was so thrilled that she wanted to send them back thank-you notes and ask for the children to send her pictures of themselves,” Derrick said. “It is wonderful to see kids being so unselfish and thinking of others.”

The ministry is operated and self-funded by the Forte’ family.

“We pick up arts and crafts things along the way,” Shelly Forte’ said. “Or sometimes (the girls) will use a little bit of their allowance.”

As the ministry grows, the twins may have to enlist the help of others.

But that won’t be a problem, Shelly Forte’ said.

“They’ve got friends on deck they can recruit,” she said.

Those who opt to sign up a family member or friend to the ministry will receive an emailed link to a quick survey asking about the person in need, including finding out the person’s age, interests, favorites, and how often they should send a note or picture of encouragement.

“That gives the girls a bit of an idea how to come alongside and encourage them,” Shelly Forte’ said.

The girls also like to add their own special touches.

“We like to color and draw angels and flowers and butterflies,” Carsen said. “Anything that’s fun and encouraging.”

For more information about the Encouragement and Care Ministry, visit encouragement.vpweb.com.


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