Our 4-H club recently crafted 90 Valentine’s Day cards for a nursing home at our last meeting. I learned that nursing homes receive an influx of holiday cards but by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, they don’t receive a lot of attention. So we wanted to do something positive and cheerful to bring some smiles and a reminder to the elderly that they are special and appreciated.
It was a fun arts and crafts evening with youth and parents in making note cards with special messages for the elderly. Kids and I and some other members were planning on spending an hour with them during their activity hour on Valentine’s Day and distribute the cards, but most of us got sick that week with a cold. Something is going around! Ultimately, Chris had to do the delivery and drop off the cards for us.
Overall, this project was pleasant and uplifting to do as a group, because we knew that the cards would bring joy to the receivers. They were all made with different art styles and stickers and messages. I wish that I had taken more pictures of the cards to show you the variety and artwork, but I was in the middle of being sick with a pounding headache and that was the only picture I took.
Our group is hoping that we can visit the nursing home when the weather warms up and we bring some company to the senior citizens during their activity hour.
This post is for the ragtag community! Thank you for hosting.
19 responses to “RDP: Pleasant”
What a lovely idea and outreach 💖
We used to do the same thing when I was a kid. We’d do little Easter and May baskets, too. It always was fun to see the people’s expressions when we showed up!
That’s wonderful! I don’ remember if you were a part of 4-H in your youth. For the Easter and May baskets, what was involved? I’m brainstorming ideas.
I so wanted to bring some cheer to the seniors that day with others, but with our germs, it was best to keep our germs at home.
That’s a lovely thing to be part of, Esther xx
Thank you, Jo! It was a meaningful project for all of us to work on.
What a thoughtful project! I’m sure the cards meant the world to the nursing home residents.
Thank you, Liz! I sure hope so.
You’re welcome, Esther!
That’s such a nice gesture Esther. The Congresswoman for my district has done that for veterans for several years. She encourages her constituents to make or buy cards and drop them off at various spots around the area, then she collects them and drops them off. I thought it was a nice touch and she always says the vets, some without families or friends to visit them, are always appreciative.
Thank you, Linda! This was a great project to do s a group and we all felt happy making these cards. One of our other members did a project with our club a few months back to send candies to troops. Ellis was in the hospital for that month, so we missed out on writing those cards. But Chris and Elliot went with candies to participate. We’re trying to do more for our community and we’re making small steps. Do you have any ideas for Easter for how we could share with veterans or the elderly? Next month, we are doing a get-to-know-each-other Bingo game and having a St. Patrick’s theme meeting.
That’s nice that you all are doing work in the community – that is nice and very fulfilling. When I was still at the law firm (before Robb/I went out on our own), my mom and I always made little treats for me to pass out to the staff. We had a lot of fun with it, sometimes baked items but at Easter, we once got small baskets, (I mean the diameter of a drinking glass). They were plastic, made to look like wicker. We filled them with Easter grass and attached a chenille chicken to the handle of each one. When I was a kid, I used to have chenille chickens on my Easter basket. They are just little chickens, fuzzy like pipe cleaners and small. Then we would fill the baskets with chocolate eggs, those eggs that are speckled and crunchy and chocolate inside, a small bunny, some jelly beans. We used to go to the bulk store and buy bags made of a cellophane and would put whatever we had in there, then put curling ribbon on it. They were a hit. We liked doing that. You could do something like that. It sounds like a lot of work, but once you get the materials, it’s like an assembly line. That would be fun. It would also be fun if you made the cards again and visited either place. Or, you could get costumes related to Easter and visit that way. It would put a smile on everyone’s faces. Give everyone a package of peeps … I think they make the smaller packages, just six in a package.
That’s such a thoughtful thing to do. I am sure the cards made them smile.
What a great outreach project! 💖
Thank you! We hope to do more, but we are in the idea collection phase now for the upcoming months.
Esther – while outside, I had a great idea to add to my suggestion for community service. It is right in front of our noses … Teddy. You don’t have to have people at the VA hospital or a nursing home pet him, but what if you carried him in a cute wicker basket (would he stay put?) Put some of the Easter grass that is safe (made of paper) (unless you think he’d eat it … maybe use his blanket with bunnies on it). You could put a hat and bow tie on him, “promote” him as THE Easter Bunnie and maybe hand out something chocolate related … something you could buy singularly, like a Cadbury Egg, or Peeps if they are in a small package, maybe little chocolate bunnies (one) …you could type up an Easter Greeting with your names on it … just generic … this is what I did and then put them on the girl’s desks (as I explained in an earlier comment). But you have Teddy, it would be fun!
Omg, this idea is so good!! Thank you for your suggestion. I’ll run it by the kids and see what we can do with Teddy. He is such a cutie and I know he will bring joy to a lot of senior citizens. We also have a friend who has a show bunny and he’s very cute too. I should contact the nursing home and see if they allow animals. Thank you again for your creative idea!!
You’re so welcome Esther! It came to me and I thought “why didn’t either of us think of this?” Even if carrying Teddy around in a wicker basket wouldn’t be feasible, do you still have the little red wagon you used to use? You could put the cage into the wagon, but the basket would be charming and really sweet. Who doesn’t love to see a bunny? I hope the nursing home allows animals – they may make exceptions in some cases … in this case Teddy is almost functioning as an emotional support animal, giving joy to residents.
I would love it if Teddy became an emotional support animal that I could take to nursing homes. I’ve been talking to him lately saying that he needs to learn how to be well behaved and calm because he has a higher purpose. It’s funny though when I talk to him…he stays still. But in rabbit years, he’s a teenager and he’s a bit rambunctious these days. I think the older he gets, the calmer he’ll become.
That would be wonderful, but people would want to pet him … he might be okay now having people oohing and aahing over him, but touching him, now that might be a whole different story. Maybe you could have Teddy and Diamond go together, in respective cages …just seeing the two bunnies might bring joy.