Children’s ‘Lights of Love’ to showcase community love this Valentine’s Day

Aside from the flowers and the chocolates, each Valentine’s Day comes with anticipation of how you will spend the evening. If you are looking to try something other than a fancy dinner or a movie, celebrate the holiday with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Lights of Love, Children’s annual Valentine’s Day event, brings the community together to celebrate their patients on this day meant for love. With flashlights in hand, people gather outside Children’s hospital campuses and shine their lights up to the patients’ rooms. Anyone who would like to be a part of the event can join, as long as they bring a light of their own.

“It’s incredibly special to see not only the patients' but also their families' reactions,” Senior Program Coordinator GraceAnne Dukes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “In previous years, I’ve seen many teary eyes as they receive such love and support from their community.”

Many patients are surprised at how many people come out for them on Valentine’s Day, Dukes went on to say.

“I think Lights of Love really shows the best of people,” said Dukes.

While the act of shining a light to a patient’s bedroom may feel small, the hope it brings can be very real. For Andrea Archaga, whose daughter, Ivana, spent months at Children’s while battling a rare liver disease, her first experience with Lights of Love was “very special.”

“They were giving me hope,” Archaga said in the 2020 video. To her, it felt like the community was saying “just stay strong, your miracle is coming.”

Later, on the same night as Archaga’s first Lights of Love, Ivana’s doctor informed them that they might have found a liver transplant match for her. On Valentine’s Day in 2020, Andrea and Ivana were able to shine lights into patients’ rooms from the outside.

This year is the first time that the event will be held on the newest Children’s campus, Arthur M. Blank Hospital.

“The event will now be even bigger and better,” Senior Program Coordinator for Children’s Volunteer Services Anna Glenn Grove told the AJC.

According to Grove, who is helping lead the event at Arthur M. Blank, said the new hospital allows more rooms to face the lights, which will increase “participation and accessibility.”

Lights of Love will take place on Friday, Feb. 14, at all three Children’s locations. For events at Hughes Spalding, the community is asked to arrive at 5 p.m. For events at Arthur M. Blank and Scottish Rite, arrive at 7:30 p.m.