Can a simple, hand-drawn card positively impact someone’s day? Ask the thousands of individuals who have received from 27-year-old Alyssa Patrias, and the answer will most likely be a resounding “Yes!”

Alyssa’s Happy Cards—one-of-a-kind decorated index cards—have brought a smile to more than 12,500 people. Patrias, who has Down Syndrome, began making these cards during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when she noticed people around her looked “sad.” Determined to lift spirits, she started making cards at home and leaving them on friends’ and neighbors’ porches or handing them out at the grocery store — a small gesture that quickly grew into a mission of happiness.

Alyssa’s Happy Cards have since become well-known throughout the community, especially at her workplace, Bubba’s 33 in Taylor, where she gives out cards daily to colleagues and customers.

“It makes me happy and makes them happy,” she said of her creations, which she now distributes everywhere—from first-grade classrooms to hospitals to fire stations.

The Happy Cards are not the first in Patrias’ outreach efforts. At Trillium Academy in Taylor, from which she graduated in 2017, she had her own coffee cart—Alyssa’s Lattes—and sold coffee, hot chocolate, and muffins to the teachers every morning.

When she competed in the Miss Downriver pageant in 2017, she became the first woman in Michigan with Down Syndrome to compete in a Miss Michigan preliminary pageant. She didn’t win the crown but was named Miss Congeniality. During those years, Patrias also found time to participate in talent shows, plays, and an annual 24-hour dance marathon held at the University of Michigan. This summer, she was part of the crew at Russell’s M-40 Speedway’s annual Down Syndrome awareness event.

Last week, Patrias shared her cards with first-graders in Laura Doran’s class at Loon Lake Elementary in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District. She was the focus of their Thoughtful Thursday project, during which the students created their own cards for Patrias.

“Eleven years ago, I started a project called Thoughtful Thursdays. Each week, we lift up someone in need of encouragement,” Doran said. “I share a bit about what the person is going through, share some pictures of who the students are writing to, and they make cards to cheer up that person,”

Patrias was nominated for the Thoughtful Thursday project because of her Happy Cards.

“The students were thrilled to be able to meet a recipient in person and get Alyssa’s Happy Cards,” Doran said.

Patrias’ efforts recently earned her the 2024 Audrey Louise Live Boldly Love Big Award from the Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan. The award recognizes individuals with Down Syndrome who make significant impacts through acts of love and boldness. It is named in honor of Audrey Louise, a young girl with Down Syndrome who passed away at the age of 5 and was known for her ability to bring smiles to others.

The card project had simple beginnings.

“Everyone seemed sad during COVID,” Patrias said. “I looked at their faces. So I started making cards.”

Her mother, Sue Cameron, added “We’d go grocery shopping. She had a lot of friends at Meijer’s, and she asked, ‘Why does everyone look so sad? So, she started making the cards for friends and family first. Dropping them off on people’s porches to stay at a safe distance.”

For Patrias, who loves to draw, the cards came naturally, and each one remains as distinctive as the last. Each is signed by Patrias with a personal stamp and is decorated with uplifting designs for every occasion, from Halloween to the holiday season.

Many of her connections have been via Best Buddies International, an organization supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. One example is the cards handed out at Michigan Healthcare Professionals (MHP) Radiation Oncology Institute. Patients there receive one after completing radiation treatment.

Charles Bucki, Chief Medical Dosimetrist at MHP, recalls receiving a card.

“I originally met Alyssa and her mother at a Best Buddies meeting about a year ago. My daughter Payton Bucki was one of their “champions of the year,” and I was attending their year-end event,” Bucki said. “Alyssa first came up to me — I usually look very anti-social or like I am in a bad mood — and she smiled and handed me a card. It immediately made me feel 100 percent better about being out of my comfort zone and just enjoying being where I was.”

As the night went on, Bucki said he decided the cards would also uplift patients at MHP Radiation Oncology.

“Often patients spend 45 or more days receiving daily radiation in battling their disease and Alyssa’s cards could help them experience some happiness, if only for a brief moment,” he said. “At many cancer centers, patients often ring a bell to show they are finished with treatment. We thought the Happy Cards would be something unique and inspiring because that is just how Alyssa is … We started handing the Happy Cards out about six months ago, and we are discussing expanding this to our other five Michigan locations.”

Ally Reynolds, a radiation therapist at MHP, agrees.

“Patients have been enjoying getting the cards on their last day,” she said. “We have them ring the bell and give them the card to take with them. We explain Alyssa’s story and how each card is uniquely made. They have fun opening them to see their drawing, and I think it’s something nice for them to be able to take home to remember us by.”

Patrias also hands out the cards at her place of employment, Bubba’s 33 in Taylor.

On Nov.12, she will host a fundraiser at Bubba’s 33 to benefit Best Buddies. For every meal purchased that evening where customers mention Best Buddies, 10 percent of the cost will be donated to her campaign. She hopes this event, from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m., will help her raise the most funds possible for the Best Buddies “Champion of the Year” award.

Cameron said her daughter’s commitment to spreading a smile via the cards is unwavering, “I always ask her if she’s tired and wants to stop making cards. And her answer is always, ‘No, I still want to make cards.’”

More information about Alyssa’s Happy Cards can be found on her Facebook page.