Home & Garden

Ellicott City Couple Says 'Spread the Love' this Valentine's Day

Instead of the traditional gifts, this couple wants to use Valentine's Day to help others.

Jeffrey Daro and his wife, Sandra, have been together for 24 years and, Daro said, he doesn’t think they’ve ever gone out for a Valentine’s Day date - although she does cook him nice dinners.  

This year, the Ellicott City couple wants to do something extra special.

“I don’t really remember where the initial idea came from,” Daro said. He and his wife may have been sitting on the couch, watching a greeting card company ad, when the topic of buying cards for Valentine’s Day came up. 

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“We said, ‘why don’t we start something where everybody donates to charity instead of buying knick knacks?’”

This year, the couple are asking people to Spread the Love and donate to charity instead of spending money on flowers and chocolate. 

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“I’m kind of a greenie,” Daro said, “I’m not a big fan of waste. It just seems weird to me to go buy a card, read it, throw it away. Buy flowers, throw them away. It just seems like a throw away holiday.” 

If instead of spending that money on flowers, if everyone donated $5 to a charity (which is much less than the cost a dozen red roses, especially this time of year), “How much could you change somebody’s life?” 

Head over to the Spread the Love Facebook page and let people know if you plan to donate instead of buying the traditional Valentine’s Day gifts. 


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