ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Hope. Thoughts. Prayers. Love. All of these words adorn wooden, hand-painted hearts that hang on a footbridge in Asheville's River Arts District, encouraging passersby to know Asheville hasn't been forgotten.

"We wanted to do a fundraising event where we can fundraise for these hearts. People can pay for them and write their messages of hope on it," said Dana Flaherty, founder of Hardcore For Humanity, an organization that helps people after disasters.

And what better time to start this campaign of kindness than in the month of love?

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"Hearts for Hope started around Valentine's Day, because of Valentine's Day and love. So the hearts are wooden hearts that symbolize love and hope," Flaherty said.

Over 500 participants, including several elementary schools, added to the collection curated by the grassroots organization.

In describing the gifted works of art, Flaherty shared, "We had some Sasquatch ones, which were awesome because I'm a big fan of Bigfoot, and just messages written on them with little tags or on the back of them saying 'Stay Strong,' 'We're With You,' 'You've Got This,' and 'We're Here To Help You Rebuild.'"

As for the location, Flaherty says they picked Asheville specifically to display the hearts because it's the art district.

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"I come from a family of artists," Flaherty said. "We wanted to give back to the artists in the community, as well as those families that were impacted by the hurricane."

And that's not the only location.

"We have another set of hearts displayed in downtown Marshall," Flaherty added. "The Madison County Art Council took the hearts and displayed them in one of the storefronts, next to other artists' work."

Across Western North Carolina, citizens have taken notice of these uplifting offerings.

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"I've actually had a lot of people who passed over the bridge, where the hearts are displayed, and message me on Instagram, just thanking us and just how much joy it brings them to walk past them and just read the messages that you know they're not alone in this," Flaherty said.

Flaherty's hope?

"I hope they know they are not forgotten about. It's going to be almost a year since the hurricane, and I want to have Western North Carolina, Asheville and all the little towns around the city remembered and not forgotten about. There are people out there still thinking about them."