Hutchinson community comes together to share love with widows

HUTCHINSON, Minn. -- On a cloudy, rainy day there is a new grassroots effort underway to bring sunshine to the widowed.

"For that person that's lost a spouse or loved one, sometimes life takes a while. It slows down and maybe you feel like the world is just moving along without you," said Kayleen Jensen, organizer of Valentine's Day Widow Outreach in Hutchinson.

With inspiration from a similar program in North Carolina that delivers flowers and gift baskets to widowers on Valentine's Day, Kayleen Jensen turned to her community.

"When given a chance people want to do good things for other people," said Jensen.

Given the chance, people of Hutchinson jumped into action. Volunteers, local businesses, and organizations donated time, goods, and money. Nominations were coming too.

In all, there will be 50 widow outreach surprise deliveries starting with one for Connie Lambert.

There were hugs and a few tears.

Connie shared parts of her 41-year love story with Roger who passed away in 2020.

"We went to the American Legion, and she started talking to Roger's boss and Roger was standing next to him and he had a cowboy hat on and I said, 'what's the deal with cowboy hat.' And it went from there," said Connie Lambert, of Hutchinson.

At Faith Lutheran Church, Jensen pulled Gail Telecky, a widower for several years from her study group. She was equal parts surprised and appreciative.

"I've been widowed for almost 13 years, but I have such a wonderful support system. My kids and my church and my friends. This is bonus," said Gail Telecky, of Hutchinson.

"We're trying to spread joy, spread kindness. Throwing out a bunch of seeds today and hopefully it takes off," said Jensen.