SEALED WITH A SMILE: SENDING LETTERS TO ELDERS BRINGS JOY

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Jacob Cramer. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

As a teen, Jacob Cramer was known as the “Bingo Boy.”

That’s what the residents called him at the senior community where he volunteered, calling out the bingo numbers to the seniors who enthusiastically played the game. But it was also the place where he forged deep relationships with some of the elders and realized how much it meant when he wrote them handwritten letters.

After forging those bonds through the written word, Jacob was just 13 years old when he founded Love For Our Elders, an organization whose mission is to alleviate social isolation among older adults through handwritten letters and intergenerational connections. In the 12 years since then, Jacob has grown the mission from a grassroots endeavor into a global movement. Under his leadership, Love For Our Elders has sent more than 900,000 letters to people across 27 countries, established Letter to an Elder Day, created 90 high school and college campus chapters and been featured everywhere from The Kelly Clarkson Show to TODAY.

Jacob has seen the tremendous influence that the letters have had on their recipients. One woman had an hour to pack before evacuating her home due to a hurricane warning, and chose to bring her letters along with her because they gave her the most comfort. Another man who had recently experienced the trauma of a mass shooting said he wanted to be buried with his letters when he dies, because he feels like they saved his life. Across the world, the power of the pen gave these elders the love and appreciation they deserve in a world where connection is scant.

One of the organization’s latest endeavors is its mailbox program. Inspired by Little Free Libraries, there are already 40 letter collection and drop off boxes in coffee shops, libraries, cafes and schools where anyone can go and grab a free handmade blank card and envelope. In just a few minutes, they can write a letter, which is then delivered to the local senior community. While one letter may not seem like something major, the impact it has can be huge. Like a handwritten letter, Jacob’s volunteer work demonstrates how a small action can have a tremendous impact on the world.

What inspires you to volunteer?

I think my volunteering is really grounded in the values that my grandparents taught me. My grandma and grandpa are Jewish, and there are values like Tikkun olam, which means repairing the world, and Gemilut hasadim, which are acts of loving kindness. These are things that we would talk about. At the temple, we would do service projects. It’s something that I carry with me every day.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Love For Our Elders.

Every day, I am helping to facilitate letter requests. The first of every month, we post new letter requests from family caregivers, neighbors, loved ones or older adults. I facilitate those letter requests with my co-pilot in all of this, Jamie, who’s also a volunteer. I am spearheading new initiatives. We just launched our Dear Elder mailbox initiative, so we’re sending out physical mailboxes to volunteers who want to collect letters in their communities. I am organizing our campus chapters, supporting them with in-person volunteering at local senior communities, providing them with learning toolkits, managing our team of interns and running corporate and school volunteer events, where we’ll do anything from letter writing to read-alouds of my book.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

I started volunteering at a senior community, and they called me the Bingo Boy. I would enthusiastically shout out letter and number combinations and it was beyond fun. I became like a best friend with a woman named Cynthia, and I would go into her room and talk to her about politics and how annoying my brother was. It was a time when I was really lonely. I was 13, and I found someone who really made me feel loved, and over time, I learned that she didn’t feel loved, and that was crazy to me. This woman, who made me feel so loved, was lonely and didn’t even get anything as simple as a letter in the mail. I realized I should write her a letter, and so I did. What I didn’t expect was for her to break down crying when she received it. I wrote some more letters to more residents, and since then, I’ve been on this mission to alleviate a growing loneliness epidemic, which to date has sent more than 900,000 handwritten letters of love to older adults.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

I think a lot of people have focused on loneliness during the COVID pandemic, but we’ve been trying to address the fact that loneliness is an epidemic that’s existed long before COVID and will exist long after, and the health risks are very dangerous. We want to be talking about the loneliness epidemic and facilitating in-person activity as much as possible. In the future, one thing that I’m excited about possibly doing is opening a connections fund so that anyone could run in-person events that we could fund. For instance, say that you want craft money for your community. Well, we’ll provide you with the yarn. It’s to encourage regular, in-person connection. A letter is so, so powerful, but we all need more in-person human connection.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

It’s the stories from people who just had no idea what this influx of love would feel like. It makes me really emotional to hear some of the stories. Imagine you’re really lonely. You only get some bills in the mail, and you don’t have many visitors. Your family lives far away. Then you’re delivered a letter written by strangers around the world talking about the dog that you’re thinking of getting. This actually happened. A letter recipient was inspired to get a dog because he had been thinking of fostering one, and then he decided to just adopt one. He said the letters encouraged him to and they suggested a name, and he named his dog after one of the suggestions in the letters. Hearing these stories of impact is what has kept me going. I started this when I was in eighth grade. I’m fully an adult now. I never thought I’d be doing this, and I am, because not only do I feel a deep duty and obligation, but I would never want to step away. I love the impact that’s shown me how kind the world is.

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.

Yes! Letter to an Elder Day is February 26, 2026. It’s my grandma’s birthday. Grandma Doris. It started in 2020, and it’s in most national holiday calendars. It was recently featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show. The way you participate is just by writing a letter. Currently, we’re trying to get as many folks as possible to participate around February 26, 2026, so mark your calendars.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

It’s important to do something you love. I’m the biggest believer in following your daydreams because you’re making your life. If you can do that in a way that is inspiring others and leaving a positive mark on someone’s life or the world, then why not?

What do you want people to learn from your story?

It doesn’t take something big to make a difference. It all starts small. One small idea, one spark, one single letter. A letter has the power to change the world, change someone’s day, life, day, week, month or even life. So find your letter, find your spark, that one thing that excites you and that inspires you. Because if you’re excited about it, I think the world will be too.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Jacob? Find local volunteer opportunities.