Rochester Post Feature 2.5.15

Cupid Call to spread cheer with surprise valentines

– Mary Beth Almond

Valentine’s Day is arguably one of the most romantic days of the year, often leaving those without a significant other cursing everything related to the holiday.  But for the past two years, April McCrumb – who owns and operates Catching Fireflies, a gift shop with locations in Rochester, Berkley and Ann Arbor – has been making Valentine’s Day about more than just a relationship status.  She’s been taking the holiday as an opportunity to spread cheer to those who could us a little pick-me-up.

This February, Catching Fireflies will once again be sending surprise valentines to 300 nominated recipients who could use a smile through a program called Cupid Call.  Through February 10, McCrumb will be accepting from the public nominations of people who could receive a free handmade valentine card that includes 14 dollars worth of “cupid cash” to spend in the store throughout February.

McCrumb said she is looking for nominees who maybe had a hard holiday season, have health problems, lost someone special or just struggle to smile.  “This is sort of a sad time of year for some people.  It’s winter, the days are short, and it can be depressing, so I thought it would be sort of fun to do a random Cupid Call for people nominated in our community that could use a surprise,” McCrumb explained.

Nominations – which should include the nominees’s full name, age and mailing address, along with a couple sentences describing why they need a Cupid Call – can be sent to service@catchingfireflies.com, with the subject title: Cupid Call.  The nominators must also include their full name and relationship to the nominee.

Therese Tuski Scarpace of West Bloomfield, knows first-hand how a surprise valentine can brighten someone’s day. Last year, Tuski Scarpace’s husband nominated her to receive a Cupid Call package filled with a handmade card and some small gifts after she lost her longtime job.

“I was closing down a program that was my heart and soul.  The weather was really bad, I was used to working 12 hours a day and I was now working nothing, which I thought was the pits, and then this box comes and I was home to get it, which was wild,” she said.  “These things seem small, but you just don’t know how it’s going to affect a person.”

A year later, Tuski Scarpace is employed once again, and she keeps the gifts she received around her at home and in her new office as a reminder to think positively.  “It is a good reminder to keep forward thinking.  I look at that stuff and I think, a year ago, I was wondering what the heck I was going to do,”  she said.  “It actually turned out better than I anticipated.”

Catching Fireflies will be accepting entries through February 10.