February is known as the month of love, but more notably for some, it is American Heart Month.
Everything came full circle this February for Molly Tobin, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, when she got the opportunity to send cards to the hospital that saved her life 18 years ago through Letters of Love x Marquette.
Tobin, who works as an operations coordinator for Marquette’s LOL chapter, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is extremely underdeveloped. She underwent three open heart surgeries at Advocate Christ Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
Now, being able to give back to that hospital is something Tobin is grateful for.
“Letters of Love isn’t just a club; it’s an organization that lets people take their experiences and gives them the platform and courage to turn it into something that will help everyone,” Tobin said in an email.
The non-profit organization works to provide emotional support to sick children in the form of handmade cards, according to a @lettersoflove_marquette Instagram post.
Marquette’s LOL chapter was founded in September by Elise Morton, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Lydia Knutson, a junior in the College of Business Administration. The two serve as co-presidents of the club while Knutson also serves as vice president of marketing.
Morton and Knutson are both from Minnesota and discovered LOL because many high schools and towns there had chapters. Once they arrived at Marquette and realized the university did not have a campus chapter, they applied to form one.
“It’s a super meaningful organization. There’s a lot of things that we do that make positive impacts on people’s lives,” Knutson said. “I think it’s cool that we have felt like a community in our campus.”
Most of the patients receiving cards from LOL suffer from terminal or chronic illnesses, Tobin explained. She mentioned how being a part of the club allows children thousands of miles away from Milwaukee to know that they are loved.
Morton added that not only does the club allow members to do good for others, but it can be a fulfilling experience for oneself. She described how meetings serve as a study break to relax and have fun.
“Being a part of Letters of Love has allowed me to be a part of something bigger than not only myself, but Marquette as well,” Tobin said in an email. “I believe that’s what makes this club and healthcare so special, it connects people with the most unfortunate circumstances to each other in such a beautiful way you don’t see anywhere else.”
In support of women’s heart health during American Heart Month, the club will be donating all cards to the Illinois hospital at which Tobin had her three open heart surgeries as a child.
“If [members] have been impacted by something, any serious condition or cancer, or know somebody who has, we can make them our reason for the meeting,” Morton said. “Then we’re able to send our cards to the hospital they receive treatment at, which is really cool.”
Aside from the work being done at LOL x Marquette to send love to sick children, members of the club are grateful for the relationships they form. Morton works as a desk receptionist at Schroeder Hall, where she sees a lot of sophomores who are members of LOL.
“It’s been really cool to see different interests participating in the club and then also different grades, because we’ve got a range of freshmen to seniors, which I think was one of the biggest things that we were really hoping for,” Morton said.
Tobin explained how these college students taking 15 minutes out of the day to simply show up to an LOL meeting and write a card has the power to connect people. Attending just one meeting could make a difference in the lives of hospitalized children who are in the position she herself was once in.
“To me, ‘being the difference’ reminds me of something my grandpa used to tell us, ‘Take what you were given, make it better, and pass it along,'” Tobin said in an email. “Letters of Love gives everyone the opportunity to do something good and make even the smallest difference in someone’s awful day.”
The club holds monthly meetings on Mondays from 7-8 p.m. in Straz Hall 116. During Love Month, meetings are being held weekly with a greater variation in scheduling due to collaborations with other campus organizations. Students can stay up to date by following LOL x Marquette on Instagram.
This story was written by Mia Thurow. She can be reached at mia.thurow@marquette.edu.
