December 17, 2020

Bringing Joy to Someone Who Needs It Most This Christmas!


This is going to be rather short, because I'd like to get it posted ASAP. It's already December 17th, so there isn't much time, but when I saw this I just had to share it!

I have an app on my phone called 'nextdoor', and it's basically a social site for neighborhoods to connect. I live in a pretty rural area, and as I've mentioned before, there are four neighborhoods directly on this peninsula (I walk the perimeter of them daily). 

To join the app, people in the neighborhoods can send invitations (the app sends them through snail mail at no cost)--you literally just click a couple of buttons and it sends invites to all the houses you select (or you can just "select all" and it will send an invite to houses that haven't gotten one yet). It's kind of surprising to me how many people have joined!

Usually, people complain about things--dogs pooping in the park, people driving too fast, etc.--which is kind of annoying, but sometimes people post positive things, too. And today, a woman in one of the neighborhoods where I walk posted something that I thought was such a great idea--I wish I'd thought of this sooner!

It also reminded me of Mark. I don't even have to explain why :)


Here is her post (I asked permission to share it)...

"My family and friends have adopted a nursing home this year. If you would like to donate some new or like-new items, please let me know. These people aren't allowed to see their families [due to COVID] and some don't have anyone at all. 

...So please, if there is something you are not using anymore, and could help, please let me know. We will be dropping off supplies to them next week."

She included a list from the nursing home that has a "wish list" from the residents (I'll post below). I literally cried when I read this--I want to buy EVERYTHING but I simply can't afford it all. But how fun would it be for the residents to have the most amazing Christmas ever during this awful year that is 2020?

Even if you can only send a card, I'm sure it will be well loved. Just think of Mark--he got cards from all over the world, and they made him SO happy. If it wasn't for you all, he never would haven't gotten a single card during the holidays or just to wish him well.

Here is the list for the nursing home (there are a few typos, but I'm sure you can understand it). Just click to make it larger:


(Make sure you note that they cannot accept food from anywhere except businesses. And because they can't share items, any games sent should be for one person to play solo.)

The initials are for each resident (obviously they aren't including their names for privacy reasons). If you want to buy for one particular resident, I imagine you could address it like this:

To: (insert initials here)
c/o: Aberdeen Skilled Nursing Center
5500 Fort St.
Trenton, MI 48183

Or if you want to send a generic gift (the adult coloring books, pencils, cards, etc) then just address it to the nursing home itself, writing "Resident" in place of initials.

This would be very easy using Amazon because then you don't have to worry about shipping it yourself and it would get there faster. If I had time, I would create a wishlist for them to make it easier, but I want to post this ASAP.

Another idea is to find a local nursing home to YOU and ask them if they are accepting gifts for the residents. I just love this idea so so much! It breaks my heart when I think of the residents that don't have family members (and the residents who aren't able to see them at this time. This holiday must be so hard on them!

8 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea!! I just bought a word search, coloring book and color pencils for DBE through Amazon. Thanks for posting this. Hope the residents get a ton of stuff...

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a beautiful idea! Thank you for sharing Katie! I just Amazon shipped a couple of coloring books and colored pencils to this nursing home. It's not a lot but I hope it makes someone happy and gives them something to do! Happy holidays to you and your family Katie! <3

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is an awesome idea! when my grandparents were in the nursing home they were almost the only ones that got visitors. thankfully, most of their family (they had 2 kids and 8 grands) lived locally. we personally visited them every week and when my boys were in school, i visited several times a week as i would go see them while waiting for my boys to be done with sport/art/speech practice. Grandma loved to color and large print word searches as well. It made me so sad that most of the others never had visitors. One year several ladies got together and we made lap blankets for all the residents...the fleece kind that you tie the ends. They loved those! Thank you for sharing this as it's a great reminder of how blessed we are and how we can be a blessing to others.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just bought a bunch of singing Christmas stuffed animals through Amazon and sent them :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just want to share that at this time last year my dad was in an assisted care facility. He was there from the day after Thanksgiving, to the day he passed away, January 6. As a kid I visited these homes with the school choir and we would sing to cheer the residents up. As an adult, my ladies church group would bake cookies at Christmas time and deliver them. I never dreamed my own dad would be the recipient of these deeds. He was in a different state as me, and he was essentially alone. After he passed, I found Christmas gifts from random generous people, such as socks and an Axe body care set. He never got to use them, but I'm sure he appreciated the gesture. I appreciated the gesture. It's one thing to be in one of these places...but during the holidays and during Covid...so sad.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I absolutely love this. Thank you for sharing. I am sending the items that DBE asked for via Amazon.
    Happy holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I LOVE this idea and just reached out to a friend that works at a nursing home to see if I can help her residents with something similar!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dibs on the body wash! I just sent six bottles via Amazon :)

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive