The first of two Awesome Ottawa awards for May goes to Sofie Sharom to support the spreading of local love through postcards.

“I started Project Local Love in 2017,” explains Sofie, “as a special project for Canada 150 where I created a series of Ottawa postcards to distribute across the city in the hopes that people would send them out, showcasing the beauty of Ottawa to others around the country. Each postcard came with a stamp so people could send them without any barriers.”

“Given the current situation across the country,” Sofie continues, “I decided it was a good time to revive the project, but with a twist. Since no one can leave their houses I am going to send the postcards out for people. They just need to visit projectlocallove.com to fill out their postcard info and I write their message on a physical postcard and mail it out. It's contactless and available to everyone at no cost! My hope is that thousands of people can send out messages to their loved ones who they can't connect with, whether that be around the block or across the country – plus spread a little Ottawa and Canada pride.”

Sofie is a travel and wildlife photographer and works in the local tourism industry.