A Fredericton woman who started gathering messages of encouragement for the youth of Attawapiskat, is seeing her message spread to hundreds of Maritime students.

Lori Shea, the owner of Anew Start Allergy Clinic, has organized a postcard campaign after the reserve issued a state of emergency following dozens of its youth attempting suicide.

Shea says she couldn't stop thinking about them.

"They're so isolated,” she said. “I just felt the need to reach out somehow, and let them know that other people cared.”

Shea says the campaign started with patients and friends, but expanded to teachers and schools.

“I thought it’d be great to have letters from peers and postcards from their peers," said Shea.

That's when Leo Hayes High School teacher, Lori Bidlake-Pinsent, got involved. She had her students create their own postcards, writing messages and drawing pictures.

And what students passed in, she says, was incredible.

"I had to kind of close the door and look at the postcards, and I did speak to a few students. I was quite overwhelmed by a few of them that I read that had such similar experiences with suicide themselves or someone they knew," said Bidlake-Pinsent.

Grade 12 student Brendan Reynolds says he wanted to show the youth that everyone in Canada cares.

"I've known people who have gone through this,” he said. “We 're so young, I'm so young. I'm in Grade 12, and just knowing about people doing this, you just kind of want to reach out and let them know that even though you might be miles and miles away, you still care."

Now, several classes from Fredericton-area schools are creating postcards. Shea says she expects to have about 300 to send to the northern Ontario community.

Shea reached out to a social worker near Attawapiskat, who said they're working on building a youth centre on the First Nation reserve some time this year.

Shea is also gathering books, art supplies and journals to supply the centre.

"I'm hoping to keep it going for a little while,” she said. “I don't want them to get just a couple of boxes and then feel like we forgot about them."

She's hoping to send the first box next week.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.