JACKSON – A local organization is advocating for “no seniors forgotten” by visiting long-term healthcare facilities to brighten the days of individuals in their “sunset years.”
Adopt A Senior, an organization that provides senior citizens with personalized gifts and attention, will host a “Fall Is In The Air” fundraiser from 2-4:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Knights of Columbus, 401 Bartley Road, Jackson. The fundraiser will feature gift baskets to be raffled off. Admission will be $10. Seats may be reserved by calling 347-365-0633.
Proceeds will help Adopt A Senior to purchase gifts for senior citizens who reside in nursing homes. Gifts are given out on an individual’s birthday, during the holiday season, and twice throughout the year to show tokens of appreciation, co-founder Anye Cohen said.
Adopt A Senior is an extension of the Adopt A Senior holiday program that has been in place for more than a decade at the Riverside Premier Rehabilitation and Healing Center in New York City.
Volunteers from Adopt A Senior regularly visit residents at Riverside Premier Rehabilitation and Healing Center, New York; The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Queens, Whitestone, N.Y.; Sunrise of Jackson; Bartley Healthcare, Jackson; and The Orchards, Jackson. Volunteers will begin to visit residents at the Sunrise of Middletown in December, Cohen said.
“My grandfather taught me to give back. That is where this comes from,” Cohen said.
Cohen said volunteers visit nursing homes each month to deliver presents to residents who will be celebrating a birthday that month. Cohen said they deliver gifts that were previously chosen by the individual who would be receiving it.
The volunteers also perform “Happy Birthday” on kazoo, she said.
“We wear birthday hats, we have balloons. Someone could be in a bad mood, but we just whip out the kazoos and everyone smiles,” Cohen said.
Cohen said her passion for volunteerism traces back to when she was working for the Disney corporation and she crocheted blankets for infants who were in the neonatal unit of a New York City hospital.
“It broke my heart. I couldn’t do it again,” she said. “ I asked, ‘Can I make blankets for seniors?’ ”
Cohen said she began crocheting blankets for residents of The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Queens. She initially delivered 40 blankets. After three years, 440 blankets had been crocheted and distributed to residents of the facility.
“During December, we really create some magic and make the holidays the most wonderful time of the year for all of the seniors,” Adopt A Senior board member Margaret Morris said. “Each resident completes a ‘wish list’ and we shop for the items on that list and hand deliver the gifts to each resident. … Our organization exists to make sure no senior is forgotten, especially during the holidays.”
“Nothing brings us more joy than to see them happy. The facilities take care of (the seniors’) needs. We take care of their wants,” Cohen said.
Individuals who are interested in shopping for a senior for the holidays may email info@adopt-a-senior.org or call 347-365-0633 for additional information. An individual may donate money to provide a senior with a holiday gift, a birthday gift and two seasonal gifts with personalized cards.
