Valley veterans receive early Valentine's Day love for their service

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- On the day before Valentine's Day, the Central Valley Blue Star Moms and PG&E are making sure our local heroes are feeling the love this holiday.

Chocolate and flowers may be your go-to gift giving ideas, but at the Veteran's Home of California, the Central Valley Blue Star Moms and PG&E are proving it's the thought that counts.

"I sit and read them, and I cry," said Rhonda Gilmore, who is the president of the group.

Taking a page out of Cupid's playbook, the Blue Star Moms and Civil Air Patrol hand-delivered Valentine's to our local heroes.

"A lot of the schools are doing a great job teaching and making the little ones aware what a veteran even is," Gilmore explained.

Thomas Montero served our country in the US Army.

"It brings a tear to my eye," he said. "As little as these kids are, they know the sacrifices we had to go through."

For nearly a decade, PG&E has worked with the Blue Star Moms to make sure Valley veterans get the "thank you" they deserve.

"If you see someone with a hat or a shirt or a bumper sticker, thank them for their service," Gilmore said. "You know a lot of them never hear that, and they all most certainly deserve it."

PG&E was on hand to do a lot more than just give a lesson in love.

"Every year, almost 500 outages are caused by mylar balloons that come into contact with electrical lines," Denny Boyles with PG&E said. "Fifty here in the Fresno-Madera area alone."

PG&E representatives made sure to discuss the importance of keeping mylar balloons tethered until they are deflated.

"The foil that they're made of does conduct electricity," Boyles said. "If they do come in contact with an electrical line, it will cause an outage."