For 20 years strong, Charles Pafites is making an impression on people as they enter hospitals across Central Florida.

  • At 82 years old, Charles Pafites creates inspiring cards
  • 'You Matter' inscribed on each card
  • He volunteers at Florida Hospital East

Charles volunteers at Florida Hospital East in Orlando. He greets each person with a hand-made greeting card.


There is an inspirational phrase "You Matter" written on the bottom of each card that Charles Pafites makes for patients at Florida Hospital East. (Spectrum News 13

There is an inspirational phrase "You Matter" written on the bottom of each one.

"Someone told me I mattered and that impressed the heck out of me so I decided to print these cards and tell everyone that they mattered as well," Charles explained.

That is how the project came to life. It started as a simple gesture, but it has since spiraled into something much larger.

He started with magnets, but that became too expensive. He then moved on to paper. He goes through about 500 of these cards a month.

After that, it's back to the drawing board. He creates another card with new images.

"I printed a couple hundred and they were out at the hospital in 15 days," he said.

He does all of this for the patients. He says it is the little things that can make all the difference.

"I care a lot about people. That's what I do what I do," says the 82-year-old volunteer. "I will be doing this for as long as I can I don’t have any intentions of stopping. I intend to put a smile on everyone’s face."