A Montreal nurse has launched a letter-writing campaign in support of the nursing staff at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

After a difficult year, Jasmine Hill wanted to do something to show her colleagues that their work throughout the pandemic is valued by the larger population.

Her goal is to gather 5,000 letters to distribute to everyone on the team in time for Nursing Team Recognition Week in May.

“We want people from the community to send ‘thank-you’ cards, letters to show their appreciation for members of the nursing team,” Hill told CBC Montreal Daybreak host Sean Henry.

“I’m happy to be able to support the nurses who have been there since day one, missing vacation, going through all these changes.”

Hill was on maternity leave during COVID-19’s first wave. She said she felt guilty knowing how hard her colleagues were working in those initial months of the pandemic.

When she returned to work in January, Hill knew she wanted to do something to boost morale.

“It’s been a challenging year for them but our nursing team members are very, very resilient,” said Hill. “With these cards being mailed in, hopefully this will be able to give the nurses a little more motivation to just keep pushing through this last wave and see that light at the end of this very long dark tunnel.”

Hill told CBC she got the idea to launch the campaign from an annual holiday tradition she does with her family.

“This was inspired by an initiative from the Canadian Armed Forces. I have three young kids, so around Christmas time, we write Christmas cards to show our support to the troops during the holiday season.”

Hill is hoping people will make the effort to send their thanks via snail mail so that the nurses and patient care staff have something they can open and keep.

The letter and card writing campaign will be open until May 1.