Napkins with upbeat Valentine messages on them - 100,000 in all - will be handed out to elementary students during lunch for Valentine’s week.

The napkins are being provided by Little Love Letters, which manufactures napkins with motivational messages for children. The napkins open like greeting cards, with a message on the outside and the inside part of the napkin.

“Little Love Letters are so much more than just a napkin,” said Melisa Cowden, founder of Little Love Letters, “They send a powerful message of encouragement to the child to help them develop a positive self esteem.”

Some examples of the napkins that students will receive are:

• “Your jokes really quack me up,” on the cover of the napkin (with a picture of two ducks laughing). The message on the inside is: “You are a GREAT kid.”
• "Don't be afraid to ask for help" on the cover of another with a picture of three monkeys climbing on each other's backs in order to reach some bananas.

Other places where napkins from Little Love Letters have been donated include Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Children’s Hospital of Austin, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The Denver Public Schools donation is made on behalf of Tim Connors, a member of the Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC). PEBC is an organization that provides literacy programming and curriculum to DPS classrooms.

To find out more about Little Love Letters, log onto www.littleloveletters.com or contact Melisa Cowden at (303) 522-6066.

The Public Education and Business Coalition can be reached at (303) 861-8661 or at pebc@pebc.org.