Are You Looking for Love?

Where is the love these days? Just look around you.

Or, if you’re in Oaklyn, Haddon Township, Haddonfield or Haddon Heights, look closely in trees, in restaurants and on fences. You might find a heart.

Oaklyn’s Studio LuLoo is running its Where Is the Love campaign throughout February as both a reminder of the love that exists all around us and as a fundraiser for local nonprofits.

Studio LuLoo is home to Community Rocks, a nonprofit that combines music and literacy to benefit South Jersey children (). Kids from the studio painted and decorated 60 cooked dough hearts, which have been planted around the area.

Each heart is redeemable for prizes, such as free sessions at Studio LuLoo, free pizza at Philly’s Phatties (the pizzeria baked the dough hearts) or “I really like New Jersey” T-shirts and magnets.

“I love love,” says Sara O’Brien, founder of Community Rocks. “This is a way to show people that love is all around them.”

It’s also a way for people to drive attention to local nonprofits. Two of those causes— Community Rocks and the Tyanna Foundation—are close to O’Brien’s heart. The foundation is named for O’Brien’s mother, who succumbed to breast cancer in 1990, leaving behind her husband and five daughters ranging in age from 12 to 24.

While the two nonprofits have very different aims, each seeks to improve the life for community members, whether through music or through promoting cancer awareness and prevention.

“We want to highlight nonprofits that do good work, but don’t always have a way to get their message out,” O’Brien says.

So, throughout February, keep an eye out for glittery, painted hearts in unexpected places. Then follow the love (and the instructions on the heart) to Studio LuLoo for your prize.