Tucked away in Mountain Vibes Gallery and Gifts on Electric Avenue, past the Montana souvenirs and wildlife photography and gemstones from around the world, is a spacious backroom designed to cultivate a community of love. 

The room is the unofficial Flathead Valley headquarters for People Spread Love, an organization dedicated to creating moments of human connection through handcrafted cards.  

When Amy Collett moved to Bigfork in 2021 to start Mountain Vibes, she immediately resonated with the community’s collaborative spirit but struggled to find a place she could give back to her new home. 

“When there’s a need, people come together and do whatever they can to help out,” Collett said. “I wanted to do something, but I just didn’t know how I fit in here. I’m working and I have limited time, so people just didn’t really know what to tell me. And then it was like, oh, wait a minute. Let me start People Spread Love.” 

People Spread Love began 10 years ago in Jackson, Wyoming, where Collett lived for 24 years before relocating to Bigfork in 2021. Collett’s good friend, Heather DeVine, was inspired to start the group after taking part in a worldwide effort to send a “lifetime” of Christmas cards to a young girl in Utah diagnosed with cerebral atrophy. A dozen women in Jackson gathered around a table to create cards, and DeVine saw firsthand how small, intentional acts connect humans around the world. 

To take part in People Spread Love, people fill out “love requests” on the group’s website, either for themselves or for others who are facing adversity, battling illness, deserve recognition for their hard work, or just need a little extra love.    

These love requests are then compiled, with sensitive information removed, for volunteer letter writers and artists across the country to create beautiful cards with personalized messages. DeVine sends any requests for the Flathead Valley to Collett, so those who stop in Mountain Vibes have the unique opportunity to write cards for members of their own community. Once a love request has been fulfilled, Collett mails the anonymous card to the recipient.  

Collett said the backroom is available any time the Mountain Vibes shop is open, and she invites everyone from locals to tourists to stop in to flex their creative muscles. She’s also happy to open the space after hours for any groups who want to organize People Spread Love events. 

The card making space is stocked with supplies designed to inspire beginner and expert artists alike. With stickers, stamps and stencils, volunteer card makers can let their imagination run wild or seek inspiration from Collett’s books of encouraging quotes and funny jokes. 

Collett also keeps a supply of uplifting cards in the “love drop box” on the shop counter. Anyone can grab a card from the box, whether they’re having a bad day or need a heartwarming message. Collett said this box is frequently emptied out and refilled as customers take one while they’re checking out or pause their shopping to make a few cards for others.  

These small moments of human connection cultivated by People Spread Love have an outsized impact in mountain communities like Bigfork, according to DeVine. 

“Mountain towns need more support in particular,” DeVine said. “There's less sun in the wintertime, it's colder and more frigid. There's also substance abuse, isolation.” 

Despite the stunning beauty of the western landscape, towns throughout the Rocky Mountains experience some of the nation’s highest suicide rates, a phenomenon explored in the documentary film “The Paradise Paradox.” According to the film, “widening wealth gaps, lack of affordable housing, and limited access to adequate mental health services” all exacerbate the problem.  

Mountain towns suffer not only from geographic isolation but also from loneliness, which is on the rise globally — the surgeon general in 2023 identified loneliness as the primary health issue facing Americans today. A World Health Organization report in 2025 found one in six people worldwide report loneliness, resulting in a “serious impact on physical and mental health, quality of life and longevity.” 

While DeVine knows People Spread Love isn’t the answer to all these issues, she sees the organization as a vehicle for people to support others who may be struggling.  

“A simple act of kindness really goes a long way,” DeVine said. “It can, quite literally, help people come off the ledge. People Spread Love helps you realize that although you feel perhaps pretty isolated and lonely in a particular moment of your life, that you have support systems that you can’t even see, that are all over the country and the world, people that are also going through it and want to acknowledge your suffering.” 

People Spread Love not only impacts those who receive the cards, but also those who take time out of their day to intentionally support others. 

“It’s definitely reciprocal,” DeVine explained. “The person writing is imagining in their mind’s eye the person who is going through this thing and really holding that space of empathy. Taking a pause in your everyday life and just the simple physicality of sitting and writing can really make a huge difference in the makeup of your day.” 

With three large tables, a Bluetooth speaker and Rosa’s Pizza a phone call away, Collett envisions her People Spread Love room in Bigfork as a place of connection, both in person and in writing. She sees groups gathering to enjoy each other’s company and rally around community members or strangers. Whether people give ten minutes or two hours, she knows each card sends out a ripple of love and support.  

For more information about People Spread Love or to submit a love request, visit peoplespreadlove.com. To schedule a People Spread Love event at Mountain Vibes, contact Amy Collett at [email protected]. 

Reporter Elsa Ericksen can be reached at 406-758-4459 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at bigforkeagle.com/support.

    Amy Collett holds one of the cards for customers inside the Love Dropbox as part of her Share the Love campaign at Mountain Vibes Gifts and Gallery in Bigfork on Thursday, March 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Amy Collett holds one of the gift bags as part of her Share the Love campaign at Mountain Vibes Gifts and Gallery in Bigfork on Thursday, March 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Mountain Vibes Gifts and Gallery in Bigfork on Thursday, March 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)