Send greeting cards to nursing home residents

#Middlebury #Seniors

A few months ago, I got the idea to send greeting cards to some residents of a local nursing home who were locked down and not allowed to have visitors. It started small: a box of greeting cards and the first names of some of the residents, courtesy of the facility director. The idea has, to put it mildly, expanded.

First there was the call from the facility director wanting to know if I could enlarge my list because the residents were talking among themselves about who got cards and who didn’t.

“Certainly,” I said, and bought more cards.

A further expansion came when a woman called me saying that her mother was in that facility, but her mother-in-law was in another local place, and would I send cards to a few people there as well?

“Certainly,” I said, and bought more cards.

You see where this is going? It wasn’t long before I knew I needed some help. It wasn’t only signing and addressing the cards, it was writing an individual letter to go in each envelope.

I called the guidance counselor at the high school and the ideas just flew. The service club is writing letters; they roped in the art club, which is producing individual drawings and paintings for each nursing home resident. The chorus stepped up and is planning an outdoor concert in the front of each facility when the weather warms up. (At this point they practice their music on Zoom calls.) And two students have initiated a project wherein they’re collecting craft supplies for the therapist at the nursing home to use with the residents.

Does this sound like something you can start in your own area? You can start small. All it takes is a box of greeting cards – and a few ideas.

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