Today for Valentine’s Day, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Moline) visited veteran centers and clinics across Illinois’ 17th Congressional District to distribute handmade Valentine’s Day cards to Central and Northwestern Illinois veterans.

Congressman Eric Sorensen outside the Peoria Vet Center on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2023.

The cards were collected from community members and students as part of Sorensen’s “Valentines for Veterans” drive. 

“Our veterans have sacrificed so much to keep us safe,” Sorensen said in a Tuesday release. “I’m overwhelmed by the support of community members and students who took the time to make cards and show our veterans how much they mean to us. I was honored to meet with so many local heroes in our communities and thank them for their service.”

Sorensen shakes hands with an Army Reserve veteran who works at the Bloomington VA Clinic.

Sorensen delivered 1,000 cards to four locations around Illinois’ 17th Congressional District: Lane A. Evans VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Galesburg, Bloomington VA Center, Peoria Vet Center, and the Quad Cities Vet Center in East Moline. 

Sorensen happened to run into his Moline next-door neighbor, also a vet, at the Quad Cities Vet Center in East Moline.