Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Aftershock-Weary Residents to Launch a Message : Coping: Thousands of letters will be sent aloft today with a helium balloon in the hope it will help people deal better with continuing tremors.

Don’t be fooled if you think efforts to relieve post-earthquake stress here are full of hot air.

But it may look that way today when thousands of letters about aftershocks are launched at noon with a 10-foot-tall helium balloon.

Newhall resident Garo Papazian has been gathering notes for a month and hopes the “Send a Message to Mother Nature” event helps residents cope with the temblors in the wake of the Northridge quake.

“I’m sick and tired of it, but we live in earthquake country, so there’s nothing we can do,” said Papazian, 46. “This is just something that I said, ‘This is what I want to do, I wonder if other people in the city want to?’ ”

Apparently, they do. Thousands of letters have been pouring in from children and adults in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys since Papazian distributed 20,000 flyers to Santa Clarita elementary schools.

Papazian came up with the idea in mid-February, after hearing that a similar event had helped a grieving child in Northern California.

“About a year or so ago, there was a little girl in a car accident with her father,” Papazian said. “This child psychologist suggested she write a letter and send it to her father in heaven.”

The release is to occur in front of Papazian’s office at 25129 The Old Road in Newhall. It has received the support of a Valencia child psychologist and city officials.

“Children often have difficult times expressing their feelings. You have to find a way to release the stress, the tension, the feelings, the anxiety, the trauma,” said psychologist Joseph Share, who will attend the event and talk with children and parents. “It’s never absolutely forgotten, but this definitely is a release.”

Writing about their fears and then jettisoning them as a group is also helpful, Share said.

“Talking about it is OK, but using more of your senses is a better way to go,” Share said. “Doing this in a large group is like rallying together. If they do it and get nothing out of it, they’ve at least contributed to the community spirit.”

City officials have agreed to co-sponsor the event and Mayor George Pederson is scheduled to attend, but no public funds are being spent on it.

“Our philosophy is, if it would help the kids with the aftermath, then we support it,” city spokeswoman Gail Foy said.

Papazian has hired a pilot to track the balloon. He said instructions and a reward have been placed within the bag of letters asking for its return.