Hi, I’m Giulia Boldrini, the founder of Project Spark.

When I was eight years old, the 2017 Atlas Fire destroyed our family home in Napa Valley. My younger brother, Luca, was six. In the midst of that loss, our friends, family, and community surrounded us with kindness and support. Their care shaped what came next.

A couple months after the fire, our family attended a meeting for wildfire survivors. A man who had lost his own home in a San Diego wildfire a decade earlier had driven nearly ten hours to be there. He sat quietly at a table in the back of the room with a stack of envelopes.

As we were leaving, he called Luca and me over and handed each of us an envelope. Inside were gift cards and handwritten notes from him and his neighbors, people who understood what we were going through and wanted to offer us hope. He told us:

“I know things feel really hard. I’ve been there. One day you’ll feel better. And when you do, please pay it forward.”

We carried his words and the kindness behind them with us.

When wildfires returned to Napa Valley three years later, Luca and I decided it was our turn to pay that kindness forward. With help from our parents, family, and community, we began Cookies for Cards, baking and selling cookies to raise money for gift cards and writing letters to accompany them.

When I entered high school, I founded Project Spark to carry that work forward. I began organizing gift card drives, collecting handwritten letters, reaching out to schools, and building partnerships.

Since 2020, these efforts have raised more than $26,250 and shared hundreds of handwritten letters and gift cards with people rebuilding after wildfire.

What began with one act of kindness now connects one fire-affected community to another. Each letter, gift card, and act of care carries that kindness forward.