Mickey Starling
reporter3@greenepublishing.com
After joining a nation wide Facebook project to show support for graduating high school seniors, I realized that there was another group of seniors who could benefit from a similar project. Having a mother who is in a nursing home and quarantined in her room for weeks on end made me acutely aware of the needs of nursing home residents during the coronavirus pandemic. Hearing the loneliness in my mother's voice inspired me to create an “Adopt a Senior Citizen 2020” page on Facebook.
Within just a few days, generous souls from Madison County and elsewhere donated over $900 to the project, which aims to provide gift baskets and encouraging cards to senior citizens in every nursing facility in Madison County. The project begins with Lake Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Madison, which has approximately 95 residents. We expect to deliver gift bags to them very soon.
Lake Park of Madison has been the hardest hit facility in Madison County, with over 20 residents and 12 employees who are currently recovering from the virus. Keeping everyone as safe as possible has resulted in some very long days and nights for staff and residents who are learning how to cope with the numerous protective measures and social distancing that the virus has required.
The Book of James describes pure religion as visiting orphans and widows in their distress and nothing is more stressful than being cut off from your loved ones for long periods of time; especially when fears of a potentially deadly virus looms. Yet, this is the daily reality of senior citizens in nursing facilities all over the country.
Fortunately for seniors living in this area, generosity is easy to find. Madison Church of God has donated lap blankets, the Junior Auxiliary of Madison is donating socks, candy, stuffed animals and art supplies for the residents at Lake Park and they have already planned to continue giving these supplies for the residents of Madison Health and Rehabilitation Center, which is the next facility targeted by our initiative. Cheryl Howard is busy creating brightly-colored wall decorations with scriptures and encouraging thoughts written on them. These will be added to the gift baskets.
Any churches, organizations or individuals who would like to help keep this project running are welcomed to do so. We have a long way to go before completing the mission to reach each nursing home resident in Madison County. For more information on how you can get involved, leave a message on my personal Facebook page or the “Adopt a Senior Citizen 2020” Facebook page.