As people across the country marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Nicole Cooper from the Town of Neepawa and Yvonne SIsley from ArtsForward reached out to local schools to create a small project with a big impact.

Hundreds of paper hearts were cut and distributed to students throughout the community during the week of Truth and Reconciliation. The students decorated and wrote words of love, encouragement, and hope on the hearts before returning the. Cooper and SIsley then collected all the hearts, arranged them in small groupings, and affixed them to sticks to plant them in the lawn at the ArtsForward facility, which is located on the main route through Neepawa.

The hearts represent the lost children and survivors of the residential school system, and are also meant to honour all the families and community members who were also affected.

“We planted them in the ground to show that you can plant change and grow from there,” says Cooper. “We planted over 600 hearts and we’re hoping that this will be the start of people educating themselves and learning more about residential schools.”

Sisley notes that the students involved really took ownership of the project and took it to heart. In Manitoba, schools are closed for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, and many of the students returned to ArtsForward over the course of the day to bring friends and family with them to visit the hearts.

The heart garden will remain on display as long as weather permits.