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Here is a statistic that rocked my world–and not in a good way.
Wait for it.
Americans spend 28 BILLION dollars a year on Valentine's Day. Again, according to the respected National Retail Federation, Americans spent 28 billion dollars on Valentines Day, in 2025. And all indications are that the number is just going to increase.
Yes, you read that right. BILLION with a “B”.
Well, technically, it was 27.5 Billion, with that averaging 188.81 per person. And by the way, that is not just averaged for adult partners; it includes children, neighbors, co-workers, and dogs. (And yeah, cats too, I guess, but that is another conversation entirely, is it not?) And here is the problem with discussing these average expenditures. While mathematically accurate, the very definition of a mathematical average tells us that for every hot babe who receives a diamond ring, some other poor lady gets nothing. Nowhere is that cruel imbalance more manifest than in this holiday which celebrates romance almost exclusively. And by the way, when did it seem like a good plan to give a kid nearly two hundred dollars worth of frippery (or so the faulty averages would suggest), especially when other kids in his neighborhood or in her class may be getting absolutely nothing. Or just a paper card with loving thoughts penned--yeah, like it's the thought that counts. Tell that to a kid feeling left out. This entire situation is a hot mess.
Surely, surely, we can find something better to do with a least part of that 28 BILLION.
Geek-Nerd that I am, I jumped right on this.
St. Jude’s spends about 2 billion dollars a year; if even ONE TENTH of what we spend on Valentine’s were donated to helping kids with cancer, St. Jude’s could operate for well over a year, helping over 8000 children with cancer, during that time. If half of that 28 billion were donated, St. Jude’s could operate for over seven years and help nearly 56,000 children stricken with cancer. And–not that this would ever happen–but if the entire amount we spend on Valentine’s Day in just a single year were given to helping kids with cancer–a true Act of Kindness to Strangers–St. Jude’s could operate for nearly a decade and a half, and help nearly ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND (120,000) children suffering from tragic and agonizing childhood cancers.
Or how about helping children in war torn Ukraine? Yes, hundreds of thousands have fled the country, but many have stayed, among them, Rabbi Avraham Wolff. His orphanages, one for boys and one for girls, cost $2.5 million dollars a year to run. With one ONE THOUSANDTH of Valentine’s Day’s spending–only 25 million dollars–the Rabbi’s Ukrainian orphanages could run for over a decade. For a decade, the children would be relatively safe. And since Putin is acting like Putin, and the Ukrainians don’t want to give up their homeland, it seems that the war might easily be raging for a decade–and even when it ends, those parentless children will continue to need our help.
That same Rabbi Wolff is trying to provide heat and electricity to a group of unique Odessa citizens–these are Holocaust Survivors in their 80’s and 90’s, and now, part of their daily life involves living without electricity (and that means without heat), in the harsh Odessa winters. Some have died of the cold. The Rabbi has a specialized unit that he wants, a workaround that confronts the reality of constant attacks on power sources and grids–a $1400 unit that works with car batteries, it can work even when the city’s power is down, which happens frequently enough to have killed many seniors already. The cost of these $1400 units, for each of the 357 Holocaust survivors, is about $500,000. That would cost us, wait for it, about ONE FIFTY THOUSANDTH of the amount we spend on Valentine’s. These people survived World War II, Hitler, and Nazi death camps, for God's sake–is it asking so much, that they not die of the freezing cold in their 80’s and 90’s, in another war they did not ask for? My advisor at the American University in Washington D.C., was a Holocaust survivor, and he told me a lot of stories, so yes, I do get a little emotional about the subject.
As for the orphaned children all over the world, the ones without even a single living parent, all 17 million of them–well, if we took about a third of that 28 billion dollars, then we could feed and clothe and provide a warm, safe bed to all of the planet’s 17 million orphans for an entire year--if we gave life and safety and hope in the form of a 9 billion dollar Valentine to those helpless and oftentimes hopeless children.
And last but not least, I could not write this screed without addressing doggies and kitties. There are a little over 6 million dogs and cats stuck in shelters all over this country. If we took between 10 to 20 percent of that 28 billion and bought food for these poor creatures, they could have full bellies, each of them, for a year .
Look, I know we aren’t all suddenly going to change our ways and give a big wad of money to some charity instead of buying the traditional candy, roses, lingerie, fancy dinners.
Then again, why the heck not?
Seriously. Why not?
Here is a statistic that rocked my world–and not in a good way.
Wait for it.
Americans spend 28 BILLION dollars a year on Valentine's Day. Again, according to the respected National Retail Federation, Americans spent 28 billion dollars on Valentines Day, in 2025. And all indications are that the number is just going to increase.
Yes, you read that right. BILLION with a “B”.
Well, technically, it was 27.5 Billion, with that averaging 188.81 per person. And by the way, that is not just averaged for adult partners; it includes children, neighbors, co-workers, and dogs. (And yeah, cats too, I guess, but that is another conversation entirely, is it not?) And here is the problem with discussing these average expenditures. While mathematically accurate, the very definition of a mathematical average tells us that for every hot babe who receives a diamond ring, some other poor lady gets nothing. Nowhere is that cruel imbalance more manifest than in this holiday which celebrates romance almost exclusively. And by the way, when did it seem like a good plan to give a kid nearly two hundred dollars worth of frippery (or so the faulty averages would suggest), especially when other kids in his neighborhood or in her class may be getting absolutely nothing. Or just a paper card with loving thoughts penned--yeah, like it's the thought that counts. Tell that to a kid feeling left out. This entire situation is a hot mess.
Surely, surely, we can find something better to do with a least part of that 28 BILLION.
Geek-Nerd that I am, I jumped right on this.
St. Jude’s spends about 2 billion dollars a year; if even ONE TENTH of what we spend on Valentine’s were donated to helping kids with cancer, St. Jude’s could operate for well over a year, helping over 8000 children with cancer, during that time. If half of that 28 billion were donated, St. Jude’s could operate for over seven years and help nearly 56,000 children stricken with cancer. And–not that this would ever happen–but if the entire amount we spend on Valentine’s Day in just a single year were given to helping kids with cancer–a true Act of Kindness to Strangers–St. Jude’s could operate for nearly a decade and a half, and help nearly ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND (120,000) children suffering from tragic and agonizing childhood cancers.
Or how about helping children in war torn Ukraine? Yes, hundreds of thousands have fled the country, but many have stayed, among them, Rabbi Avraham Wolff. His orphanages, one for boys and one for girls, cost $2.5 million dollars a year to run. With one ONE THOUSANDTH of Valentine’s Day’s spending–only 25 million dollars–the Rabbi’s Ukrainian orphanages could run for over a decade. For a decade, the children would be relatively safe. And since Putin is acting like Putin, and the Ukrainians don’t want to give up their homeland, it seems that the war might easily be raging for a decade–and even when it ends, those parentless children will continue to need our help.
That same Rabbi Wolff is trying to provide heat and electricity to a group of unique Odessa citizens–these are Holocaust Survivors in their 80’s and 90’s, and now, part of their daily life involves living without electricity (and that means without heat), in the harsh Odessa winters. Some have died of the cold. The Rabbi has a specialized unit that he wants, a workaround that confronts the reality of constant attacks on power sources and grids–a $1400 unit that works with car batteries, it can work even when the city’s power is down, which happens frequently enough to have killed many seniors already. The cost of these $1400 units, for each of the 357 Holocaust survivors, is about $500,000. That would cost us, wait for it, about ONE FIFTY THOUSANDTH of the amount we spend on Valentine’s. These people survived World War II, Hitler, and Nazi death camps, for God's sake–is it asking so much, that they not die of the freezing cold in their 80’s and 90’s, in another war they did not ask for? My advisor at the American University in Washington D.C., was a Holocaust survivor, and he told me a lot of stories, so yes, I do get a little emotional about the subject.
As for the orphaned children all over the world, the ones without even a single living parent, all 17 million of them–well, if we took about a third of that 28 billion dollars, then we could feed and clothe and provide a warm, safe bed to all of the planet’s 17 million orphans for an entire year--if we gave life and safety and hope in the form of a 9 billion dollar Valentine to those helpless and oftentimes hopeless children.
And last but not least, I could not write this screed without addressing doggies and kitties. There are a little over 6 million dogs and cats stuck in shelters all over this country. If we took between 10 to 20 percent of that 28 billion and bought food for these poor creatures, they could have full bellies, each of them, for a year .
Look, I know we aren’t all suddenly going to change our ways and give a big wad of money to some charity instead of buying the traditional candy, roses, lingerie, fancy dinners.
Then again, why the heck not?
Seriously. Why not?
