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Richmond illustrator Cristian Fowlie contributed a fun card designed for the LGBTQ community as part of Cards For All, a Valentine’s Day card collection that celebrates the diversity of love and relationships.

Photo courtesy London Drugs

Valentine’s Day cards celebrate diversity

By Richmond Sentinel

Published 12:11 PST, Fri February 7, 2020

Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021

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London Drugs is launching a line of Valentine’s cards today (Friday) designed by Canadian illustrators for communities that aren't typically represented in the greeting card aisle.

Cards For All is a Valentine’s card collection made to reflect all kinds of love and all kinds of relationships. The collection of 31 cards was designed for everyone to share their love, regardless of the language they speak, how they identify, sexual orientation, or the makeup of their relationship(s).

All proceeds from the cards are being donated to United Way community initiatives in Western Canada, where they’re helping to build vibrant, inclusive neighbourhoods.

“Valentine’s Day cards don’t always fully capture relationship diversity and the diversity of love,” says Clint Mahlman, president and chief executive officer London Drugs. “We are proud to have worked with illustrators to help bring Cards For All to life, filling in some of the gaps that exist in the card aisle today. We’re also proud to have 100 per cent of the proceeds go to United Way initiatives in the communities we serve.

The cards are designed to help more people share their love, whether they’re straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, or anywhere else on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. There are cards for common law, open relationships, and even non-romantic relationships—cards for a coworker, a single friend, or a roommate. As well as some of Canada’s most common languages outside of English and French, like Chinese, Farsi, Punjabi, Tagalog, and even Braille.

London Drugs partnered with Canadian artists, with many having a connection to the community they designed the card for. For example, Izzy Gibson, an illustrator from Vancouver who has been openly bisexual since her teens, says she’s seen how the world has changed and is becoming more open to all forms of love. “It's important to embrace love. That was my inspiration for the card. There's always more room in the world for more kindness,” says Gibson.

Local Richmond illustrator, Cristian Fowlie, contributed a fun card designed for the LGBTQ community. It proclaims “Who has two thumbs and the best boyfriend ever? This guy.”

“Everyone deserves to share and receive love,” says Mahlman. “Valentine’s Day needs to be more inclusive and so we are excited to bring this first-ever Cards For All initiative to our customers at select locations. We hope our customers love the cards as much as we do, and we’ll expand it to many more stores next year.”

The Cards For All collection can be found at 20 London Drugs stores across Western Canada, including the London Plaza location on No. 3 Road beginning Feb. 7. All cards retail at $5 with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to United Way. The full list of London Drugs stores stocking the collection can be found here and follow the campaign at #CardsForAll.