The Postcrossing Forum is a big and lively place, full of different corners where postcrossers connect, share tips, and have fun together. For newcomers, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to know where to start… so we thought it would be nice to highlight some of its sections in a series of blog posts, giving everyone an easier way to explore and join in. To kick things off, here’s an introduction to the Spread the Joy section by Clarisse (aka CStar9), a fellow postcrosser who knows it well!
Shortly after beginning my Postcrossing journey, I discovered the Forum. There’s a lot to love there—especially for newbies experiencing the slow wait between official cards—but for now I’ll focus on one corner of the Forum that I’d recommend to everyone.
Spread the Joy is a caring place where postcrossers make requests for postcards for loved ones who need a little cheering up, who are celebrating a special milestone, and more. Often, the person making the request will send a thank you postcard to those who contribute.
Over the past several years, I have posted two requests. Both times, the outpouring of love from the Postcrossing community has made a real difference for the people who received the cards.
Postcards for Alanna, a young person who needed a boost during a difficult time.
I now visit Spread the Joy weekly, and collected some opportunities for you to spread the love below. This is a gentle nudge to consider watching the Spread the Joy corner for future posts that might resonate with you.
Note that if you haven’t been active on the forum before, you’ll need to browse around a little bit first, to “level up” your account and get access to this part of the forum. It’ll be worth it!
Skittykitty (USA) is collecting postcards for her husband, who is undergoing cancer treatment. He is interested in music, anime, manga, video games, horror movies and books, military history, local myths and legends. (See the original request.)
Anirudhpostcollecter (India) requests postcards with nice wishes for his high school teachers as a token of appreciation for their dedication, guidance, and hard work. Help him make their Teachers’ Day special! (See the original request.)
letterin (Uganda) is requesting postcards – and any other expressions of support – for youth at a children’s home he founded in Uganda – called St. Dorothea Kinderheim – for children in the Masaka region who have lost parents to COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS. (See the original request)
The children of St. Dorothea, after receiving postcards from postcrossers.
Esteparia (Spain) is gathering postcards, written in English or Spanish, for her niece who will turn 13 years old in March. She’d like to introduce her to the many different countries of the world! (See the original request.)
Kyylie (Canada) is collecting mail for their grandma who loves cooking and baking, and has had a challenging few years. Especially welcome are any recipe cards, food/cooking/baking-themed postcards, an envelope of recipes you love, or a postcard sharing a famous local dish! (See the original request.)
Volvomom (U.S.A.) is a teacher looking to connect with other teachers anywhere in the world with students who speak Spanish or are learning Spanish. She would like to facilitate a Spanish-language classroom postcard exchange in the upcoming school year (See the original request.)
BlueMeeple (U.K.) is collecting postcards for her mum, who is enduring a long, slow, and frustrating recovery from a knee operation. Her mum enjoys images of flowers, art, the colors blue and turquoise, Lego, Russian dolls, illustrated animals, handmade cards, religious art, and book covers. (See the original request.)
mohansn (India) is a hobbyist nature photographer who loves to send cards to local libraries and bookstores to thank them for their service to the community. He’s not looking for cards from you, but rather seeks your recommendations of a local, quaint (not famous) library or bookstore that he should send a card to. (See the original request.)
Kimberlly_Carvalho (Brazil) will celebrate her 21st birthday in September. 2025 has been a difficult year for her, and she’s looking for postcards with extra cheer to help her celebrate her special day! (See the original request.)
Interested in spreading some joy? You can navigate directly to the original request in the Forum, or message me (@CStar9) or the original poster for more information and the mailing address.
What do you think? Have you had an experience with these sections of the forum? Are there other opportunities you’ve found online to spread snail-mail joy, such as https://loveforourelders.org/ or https://www.moreloveletters.com/? Leave a comment below to let us know — 5 commenters will be randomly selected for a postcard giveaway from the new set, Most Fascinating Museums, this time next week.
Thanks for the blog, I indeed have found the Forum quite confusing so far :D
Is there anything in specific I need to do when browsing around to level up? Because I cant open the Spread the Joy section yet, sadly, even though it sounds like a wonderful thing! <3
This is such a great idea, thanks for pointing it out. I'm not much of a forum user but will check out the Spread The Joy section from now on, and make a request of my own next year when Mum turns 94.
Sounds great! I used to be active on the forum a long time ago before it underwent its most recent transformation. I will have to check it out again very soon! :)
I participated in the Spread the Joy section before and i think it´s such a heartwarming thing to do!
For all the Postcrossers from Germany: I recommend Post mit Herz (https://postmitherz.org/) they host a postcard campaign to lonely people in retirement homes, children's homes, etc. twice a year (easter and christmas).
This is great thank you. I try to use the forum but I find it confusing also specially when topics get moved around and then you can’t find them anymore at all.
What a great idea to make the Forum better known going over the different sections. I used Spread the Joy myself to ask for cards for my daughter 18th birthday and the response was really heart warming. I have also responded to some requests, and it felt really good making somebody happy in an unexpected way.
I recommend the Forum! It allows people to interact more directly and really feel part of a community.
I’ve just gotten active on Postcrossing, so I really appreciate this series of blog posts so I can learn my way around the community. I’m so happy to learn about this corner of the forum. I am involved with both Love for our Elders and More Love Letters, both wonderful organizations.
Thanks for the information. It's a great idea to support people. I was in a very difficult situation myself because of the war in my country, but when I registered on postcrossing and started receiving postcards from all over the world with words of support, it started to help. I read these postcards to my children, and they know that since there are so many good people in the world, good will definitely win and peace will come.
I didn’t know about this forum. In my bio I requested birthday cards for my mom and she loved receiving cards from all over the world. It amazed her that people who did not know her would send an old woman a card. She showed them to anyone she could.
I also participate in Love For Our Elders.
Spread the Joy is truly a welcoming place! I received postcards from people all over the world, and they were such lovely people. It brought me so much joy, and my days have become so much easier. I have a lot to thank Postcrossing and this amazing community for 💞
Forum is deep field for actions, ideas, communication, fun and whatever more. Greta to be pushed attention, lovely that this place exists for us! Thanks guys, your are always fantastic.
Is there a possibility on the forum to mark your favorite topics? I have a hard time to find my favorite topics back to check them regularly.
For example I join the Postcrossing postcard challenge 2025, which I enjoy a lot. I have 3 postcardpenpalls that send me a card every month of this year and I send them cards once a month too. Great way to get to know other postcrossers, my cards are always too small for everything I want to write, so this is a great solution!
@Moniqueandkids You can "watch" a topic. Look out for the bell 🔔 symbol at the end of a topic and set the notification level you want to have. The default is normal, which just notifys you when you were mentioned via @Moniqueandkids. But you can set a finer level, so that you get notification for every new message or total get no notification at all.
There are other options as well like setting a bookmark 🔖.
I think it's a fantastic idea to raise awareness of the forum.
I have participated in some of the initiatives of spread the Joy and it really is beautiful.
Spread the Joy ...
reminds me of Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A.Milne's words,
"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
Sending a postcard to spread the joy does just that.
Thank you! Had not noticed this section in the Forum. Mostly I just check the new meetups in my country. Had a slower time in Postcrossing but decided to become more active again and also found some new penpals and started writing handwritten letters again.
I learned to know the Postcrossing Community in 2020 and did a lot of different things in the beginning. Very nice to interact with other Postcrossers for postcards with a purpose, handmade postcards, Traveling Notebooks etc. Even made a Traveling Notebook ending with binding all the pages together online!
Then I found the Book Club RR and nowadays I'm still involved with reading books together and exchanging postcards after ending the book. With this RR I actually started to read again on very regular basis. Beside reading books, also the ones you may not have found or done without the RR, it is a fine lovely group of people. You get to know each other quite a bit through books and postcards!
This topic sounds wonderful and I will have a look/go!
As one of those kajillion people often having others “needing” something, my own “me time” is rare especially when it comes to researching extra sites. But if it’s a project that would create “Spreading the Joy” I think it would be very worthwhile to check it out. Thanks for the info.
Thank you for writing this Clarisse , I was excited to see this on the homepage of PC when I logged in. Spread the Joy is wonderful, I have loved the community and kindness in it. I had not heard of either letter writing websites, and will definitely be checking them out.
I'm happy I learned about Spread the Joy. I often send cards or letters to folks through Love for our Elders. It was the only organization I knew of that did that type of service/connection. I also make a point to send mail to those I know personally who have some ongoing issue, such as dementia. It's a great way to send some love to others.
The German site POST MIT HERZ has been mentioned before, but I can only recommend checking in with your local care homes because many of them would love to receive mail! Some student unions or organisations also have programs where students can register to become pen pals with eldery people - look up your local one!
46 comments so far
It's nice to spread a joy by a card and give recipent happyness.
Thanks for the blog, I indeed have found the Forum quite confusing so far :D
Is there anything in specific I need to do when browsing around to level up? Because I cant open the Spread the Joy section yet, sadly, even though it sounds like a wonderful thing! <3
This is such a great idea, thanks for pointing it out. I'm not much of a forum user but will check out the Spread The Joy section from now on, and make a request of my own next year when Mum turns 94.
Sounds great! I used to be active on the forum a long time ago before it underwent its most recent transformation. I will have to check it out again very soon! :)
Thank you very much for your help amd support
I had no idea this section even existed! I love it already
Thank you for sharing, I never knew this existed. The amazingness of postcrossing is full of surprises xx
Sounds like a special way to help.
I participated in the Spread the Joy section before and i think it´s such a heartwarming thing to do!
For all the Postcrossers from Germany: I recommend Post mit Herz (https://postmitherz.org/) they host a postcard campaign to lonely people in retirement homes, children's homes, etc. twice a year (easter and christmas).
This is great thank you. I try to use the forum but I find it confusing also specially when topics get moved around and then you can’t find them anymore at all.
What a great idea to make the Forum better known going over the different sections. I used Spread the Joy myself to ask for cards for my daughter 18th birthday and the response was really heart warming. I have also responded to some requests, and it felt really good making somebody happy in an unexpected way.
I recommend the Forum! It allows people to interact more directly and really feel part of a community.
I’ve just gotten active on Postcrossing, so I really appreciate this series of blog posts so I can learn my way around the community. I’m so happy to learn about this corner of the forum. I am involved with both Love for our Elders and More Love Letters, both wonderful organizations.
I’ve written just this month to my newsletter followers to tell them about Postcrossing: https://open.substack.com/pub/heartspoken/p/postcrossing-send-a-cardsee-the-world?r=1vna2&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for the information. It's a great idea to support people. I was in a very difficult situation myself because of the war in my country, but when I registered on postcrossing and started receiving postcards from all over the world with words of support, it started to help. I read these postcards to my children, and they know that since there are so many good people in the world, good will definitely win and peace will come.
Love the Forum! Thank you for sharing Spread the Joy! I also love the Blog - I'll be watching for more great Postcrossing opportunities!
Thank you for this wonderful way to begin or (continue) engaging with the Forum.
Great work! It is a wonderful way to engage with the community and spreading kindness and goodwill.
I didn’t know about this forum. In my bio I requested birthday cards for my mom and she loved receiving cards from all over the world. It amazed her that people who did not know her would send an old woman a card. She showed them to anyone she could.
I also participate in Love For Our Elders.
A nice introduction about interesting posts on the forum!
Spread the Joy is truly a welcoming place! I received postcards from people all over the world, and they were such lovely people. It brought me so much joy, and my days have become so much easier. I have a lot to thank Postcrossing and this amazing community for 💞
I HAD NO IDEA THIS FEATURE WAS THERE! I’m gonna be looking - and sending! - each week! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Forum is deep field for actions, ideas, communication, fun and whatever more. Greta to be pushed attention, lovely that this place exists for us! Thanks guys, your are always fantastic.
There’s nothing like finding a postcard in your mailbox! And I love this highlight on The Forum!
Love this post - will check out the forum,
It is so wonderful how a postcard can bring so much joy!
Is there a possibility on the forum to mark your favorite topics? I have a hard time to find my favorite topics back to check them regularly.
For example I join the Postcrossing postcard challenge 2025, which I enjoy a lot. I have 3 postcardpenpalls that send me a card every month of this year and I send them cards once a month too. Great way to get to know other postcrossers, my cards are always too small for everything I want to write, so this is a great solution!
@Moniqueandkids You can "watch" a topic. Look out for the bell 🔔 symbol at the end of a topic and set the notification level you want to have. The default is normal, which just notifys you when you were mentioned via @Moniqueandkids. But you can set a finer level, so that you get notification for every new message or total get no notification at all.
There are other options as well like setting a bookmark 🔖.
I think it's a fantastic idea to raise awareness of the forum.
I have participated in some of the initiatives of spread the Joy and it really is beautiful.
Hai...ik ga dit niet doen...Sorry...Gr.Betsy...
I really love this forum too!
I also love forums about meet-ups, Q&A, showing gerat handmade postcards.
Spread the Joy ...
reminds me of Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A.Milne's words,
"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
Sending a postcard to spread the joy does just that.
I’m not very active on forum. Need to check more often. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you! Had not noticed this section in the Forum. Mostly I just check the new meetups in my country. Had a slower time in Postcrossing but decided to become more active again and also found some new penpals and started writing handwritten letters again.
"Spread the Joy" is a great idea! I participate in a Swedish group on fb which is for the same purpose "Spread the Joy" through "Vykortshjälpen"
I learned to know the Postcrossing Community in 2020 and did a lot of different things in the beginning. Very nice to interact with other Postcrossers for postcards with a purpose, handmade postcards, Traveling Notebooks etc. Even made a Traveling Notebook ending with binding all the pages together online!
Then I found the Book Club RR and nowadays I'm still involved with reading books together and exchanging postcards after ending the book. With this RR I actually started to read again on very regular basis. Beside reading books, also the ones you may not have found or done without the RR, it is a fine lovely group of people. You get to know each other quite a bit through books and postcards!
This topic sounds wonderful and I will have a look/go!
For whom is interested in the Book Clubs & postcards RR:
https://community.postcrossing.com/t/the-readers-journey-rr-part-2-the-bookworm-book-club/838876
Spread the joy is my fav part of the Forum together with the Travelling notebooks: sharing is always a delight! :)
What a great way to expand the Postcrossing world to Spread the Joy! 🤩
I bookmarked the site...one day I will make a start! Thanks!
Thank you for sharing this. It is a wonderful explanation of the group and I plan to go take a look.
Writing postcards now!!
This sounds right up my alley, and I didn't even know it's on here! I will have some fun looking at it and sending some JOY out. Thank you!
So interesting! Will definitely take a look. Thank you!
As one of those kajillion people often having others “needing” something, my own “me time” is rare especially when it comes to researching extra sites. But if it’s a project that would create “Spreading the Joy” I think it would be very worthwhile to check it out. Thanks for the info.
Thank you for writing this Clarisse , I was excited to see this on the homepage of PC when I logged in. Spread the Joy is wonderful, I have loved the community and kindness in it. I had not heard of either letter writing websites, and will definitely be checking them out.
I'm happy I learned about Spread the Joy. I often send cards or letters to folks through Love for our Elders. It was the only organization I knew of that did that type of service/connection. I also make a point to send mail to those I know personally who have some ongoing issue, such as dementia. It's a great way to send some love to others.
The German site POST MIT HERZ has been mentioned before, but I can only recommend checking in with your local care homes because many of them would love to receive mail! Some student unions or organisations also have programs where students can register to become pen pals with eldery people - look up your local one!
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