Signs spreading messages of hope and happiness are popping up in yards across northeast Iowa. Kerra Boriskey manages the sign department for Kendrick Forest Products, based in Edgewood. Boriskey says the signs carry messages like, “Be the Sunshine,” “Faith Over Fear” and “Hope Can Never Be Canceled.” Dozens are now posted in nearly a dozen towns around Edgewood.

“How it works is, the communities have reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, we’d love to have some,’ so we take 12 to 15 designs to a community,” Boriskey says. “My mom goes around with my grandma and my niece and they put yard signs in people’s yards.” In addition to the free signs they’re setting up in yards around the region, dozens more are being sold as a fundraiser.

“We are charging $10 a sign if it’s something that you pick up and $10 for shipping if you need signs shipped,” Boriskey says, “and we are doing 100% of the proceeds going to local medical staff for supplies and food.” As the pandemic has kept so many people indoors and isolated, Boriskey says they wanted to come up with a way to lift spirits.

“The thing that really makes you proud is the fact that you can turn something around and people put their heart and soul into it and we have a product in somebody’s yard within hours of coming up with an idea,” Boriskey says. “People are very appreciative and are excited to see the good hope spread throughout the community.” The signs are posted in communities including Edgewood, Manchester, Strawberry Point, Colesburg, Petersburg, Guttenberg, Garber, Dyersville, Cascade, Winthrop, and McGregor.