ANN ARBOR, MI - Want to know how C.S. Mott Children's Hospital was able to collect nearly 94,000 valentines for its patients in less than five days? Chalk it up to the power of social media.

What started as a simple request to send child patients a valentine wish quickly escalated into an effort to create the typical Valentine's Day school experience of sharing valentines with classmates at the Ann Arbor hospital.

After promoting the idea on Facebook and Twitter on Feb. 9, Michigan Medicine's Rebecca Priest said more than 93,600 Valentines were submitted online to Mott Children's Hospital by Monday morning.

Well-wishers represented more than 25 countries, including Guam, Peru, Japan, Australia, Russia, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Taiwan and Afghanistan among others.

"Everyone has those memories of having the box set out at school to collect valentines from their classmates and friends," said Priest, the brand manager in Michigan Medicine's Department of Communications. "We just wanted to make sure the day was special for the kids here who were missing out on that, so we wanted to cast a wider net."

Senders could choose from several themes of cards online, including dinosaurs, robots, football or tractors. Priest said the "pink robot" was "by far the most popular choice" among those sending out valentines.

Due to the high volume of valentines received, cards are being distributed through the week to every child at the hospital and at all UM clinics in Ann Arbor, Brighton, Lansing and Grand Rapids.

"I credit it to the power of social media," Priest said. "Through the (Facebook) app itself, our post was shared more than 13,000 times."