Little Red Mailbox

Beyond the children’s playground, past Siebert Realty‘s big, blue beach chair and down the wooden plank walkway by the fishing pier in Sandbridge’s Little Island State Park is The Little Red Mailbox, where anyone can “Leave a Note of Hope.” Alongside the windswept dunes and ocean, The Little Red Mailbox has served as a way to reconcile losses with heartfelt messages for anyone to read. Inside the mailbox is a pen and journals, filled with inspirational entries or drawings to bring a smile to the face of anyone who could use a little uplifting.

The mailbox, painted red by Outer Banks artist Vicki Horning, was established on March 5, 2017 by Daniel’s Grace, a Virginia Beach-based nonprofit helping to support families stricken with cancer.  Jodi Newland, owner of Sweetwater Cuisine in Virginia Beach, founded the organization, Daniel’s Grace Foundation, after losing her husband Daniel to colon cancer at the age of 32.

The goal of The Little Red Mailbox of Hope is to spread hope, love, and expression through the journal that is inside.  The Founder, Sue Goodrich said, “It’s a place to share your thoughts, dreams, feelings or secrets or to just visit and read what others have left along their journey. Everybody needs a little hope, and helping others also helps ourselves.” Goodrich said the box was created as a refuge to escape daily hustle and bustle by finding peace by the sea.

The mailbox at Sandbridge is the fifth of its kind. Others are located in Buxton, N.C., Mechanicsville, Va. and Johnstown, Pa., with the first being founded in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. by resident Sue Goodrich.

For more information on this foundation, visit http://www.danielsgrace.org/