Emily Paine Carter

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My kitchen calendar torments me: Feb. 14 looms large. Let's just say that my prospects for coveted Godiva chocolates are slim.

So this year my Valentines go to this valley ... because you, you and yes, even YOU are true sweethearts.

Recently that thought zapped me with the swiftness of Cupid's arrow. Sure, Salem Rotary's traditional luncheon singalong helped: among music maestro Aaron Garber's choices was "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (my lip-syncing counted as a charity to nearby ears).

Such "Sweethearts of the Rotary!" (There's a wink for you 1960s music fans.) Why, I was already grateful for the club's creation of a Roanoke River park-ette (near Lewis-Gale Medical Center): it wins my only smile on Virginia 419.

President and excellent Andrew Lewis High School graduate Skip Lautenschlager noted the club's "Service above Self" motto -- demonstrated annually in big donations to deserving community organizations.

Think of all the good-hearted workers and volunteers represented by each noble soul fetching Rotarian bounty that day.

No sooner had I unboggled my mind from such thoughts than another good heart called -- hoping that this column might encourage further donations to a good cause.

Jackie Smith had hosted a kitchen shower -- but, despite the lovely setting and food, not the giggling games-filled sort for young brides.

She had earnestly wanted to help friend Jackie Sarver, 54, recover from a devastating fire Dec. 20. Home, car, even her cellphone: Sarver and Tom Proffitt lost it all.

Smith, 49, decided that Sarver needed "something good and fun." So she rallied her troops of friends -- few of whom knew Sarver -- who encircled the guest of honor with love and housewares.

Smith said she was thrilled that 36 women bearing gifts attended, and that nine who couldn't attend sent gifts anyhow.

In an e-mail, guest Lisa Garst seemed to speak for everyone; she praised Smith for her "incredibly thoughtful and kind" efforts. Perhaps, she continued, all guests thought the same thing: "I can't imagine the horror of losing everything in a house fire." And how "emotionally and financially draining ... terribly overwhelming" to have to start over.

Garst hoped that this group helped start the couple's "rebuilding" process. I recalled a Spanish saying, "muchos pocos hacen un mucho": "many little things can do a lot."

Indeed, both "Jackie S.'s" marveled at the array of gifts; Liz Graham even donated her grandmother's living room set. But the most special gift? A family portrait and a copy of her late mother's photograph, framed by Sarver's brother Neil Young and his wife, Becky.

"Oh, yes, I cried [when I saw those]!" Smith said. Her mom had died a year ago; the fire destroyed her "photos and irreplaceable things. ... It's an indescribable upheaval -- to our animals, too [black Kitty Cat and toy poodle Betsy]."

Sarver choked back tears as she told of how -- yes, these names again -- Jimmy, Joe and Joe's son Justin Gladden helped Tom dig through the rubble. Somehow they found her mom's Bible buried under a flowerpot and drywall.

Sarver took that as "a sign from God that I'll get through this. I'm so blessed! For example, the fire was not at night. And the firemen were wonderful."

"I'm very grateful for good friends -- like Jackie -- and family. We've received such kind letters. You don't realize how big people's hearts are till something happens. People are wonderful!"

Yes, you people, you ARE wonderful. For helping groups -- like Rotary, the Needlework Guild, Bethany Hall, CHIP, etc. -- help others.

And for kindly helping individuals such as Jackie Sarver. With each quiet good deed, each garment to a needy child, even each bowl of soup to a neighbor with a migraine: your good heart keeps our special valley a mighty fine place to live. You make "extraordinary" kindness an everyday event.

And I love you for that. Happy Valentine's Day!

Far more than I "need" chocolate, fire victim Jackie Sarver needs funds. Donations may be made to the Salem MemberOne account in her and brother Neil Young's names.

ODAC basketball playoff profits support Rotary causes. Donations to Salem's Needlework Guild provide clothing for impoverished children; call Jennifer Deegan at 387-0314. And long lists of needs -- including needs of your time -- appear in Neighbors each month.