One of the most vulnerable populations in the global COVID-19 pandemic is nursing home residents. Because of their age and often fragile health, people in nursing homes are more likely to suffer with and die of COVID-19. In order to keep them safe, particularly in the beginning of the pandemic, visitors for nursing home residents were kept out. While this prevented the spread of infection, it was also socially isolating for the residents. To address this isolation, one dedicated group of students from New Jersey rallied together to show some much-needed kindness to the residents of a local nursing home.
Coordinated Kindness
The idea was simple: deliver flowers to the residents of St. Joseph’s nursing home in time for Mother’s Day. However, this kindness project was a significant undertaking, with members of a New Jersey school’s Interact Club coming together to carry it out. Some club members were attending school virtually while others had a hybrid schedule, meaning that they were only at school in person on certain days. For everyone to be involved, they had to get creative.
Using funds generously provided by our awesome donors, the Interact Club was able to purchase colorful flower pots and flowers. The flowers were the key to the whole project, as one of the club members explains: “Flowers themselves have been known to improve mood and mental health, and so it would be extremely beneficial to the residents to have their environments brightened up with these flowers.” The students who could meet in person potted the flowers, and the virtual students wrote uplifting messages and flower puns to put on each flower pot. A kind of assembly line was set up, with students adding soil to the pots, then other students potting the flowers. Several students cut out the messages and jokes written by the club members who could not be there in person, then other students attached those messages to popsicle sticks. The final step was attaching the messages to the flower pots. Once all 48 flower pots were fully assembled, it was time to deliver them to St. Joseph’s nursing home!
Because of COVID-19 safety precautions, the student members were not able to go to the nursing home to deliver the flowers in person. However, the Interact Club’s advisor was able to deliver the flowers: “The nursing aids and residents at St. Joseph’s Nursing Home were overjoyed to receive the flower pots, and they seemed so touched by our act.” Everything went according to plan, and the flowers were delivered just in time to brighten up the nursing home for Mother’s Day.
Be Kind, Anytime!
If you are feeling inspired by this act of kindness, we have good news: you can do this, too! If you have an idea for a random act of kindness, let us know. You can reach out to a Regional Representative or apply for funding on our website. We cannot wait to hear from you!
