Giving the Guests a Christmas to Remember

Sunday, December 22th 2024

By: Charlotte Hendrey

"This is a Christmas I won't ever forget!", said Donna, a guest at Bello Gardens Assisted Living while eating her sprinkle-covered cookie. She looked over to another guest, Ralph (left) and said "We love cookies!"

Today, I organized and hosted a Christmas Cookie Decorating Party for my wonderful friends living at the assisted care home.

At first, when I realized how many guests had signed up, I was a bit nervous. I had ten volunteers coming, all different ages, and wasn't sure how I could fit them in the home's living room at the small table! But, I came up with a solution. I quickly went back to the store to buy another box of cookies, and then I texted one of the care-takers to bring in two tables from the dining room into the living room so that we could fit everybody.

I supplied all the material, which I wrote about in my "Friday Night Prep" blog post. I brought cookies, icing, sprinkles, plates, napkins, and Santa hats for the guests and volunteers to wear! I also brought my speaker to play Christmas music to set the fun holiday mood! Two of the guests were joyfully singing along to the Christmas music while decorating their cookies.

Both older and younger volunteers participated today. I brought in my friends from Archie Williams High School, and some younger kids in elementary school. I instructed the volunteers to all help a guest decorate their own cookie, and they all were great at following my direction. Regardless of age, all volunteers were all super helpful and more importantly, spread holiday cheer.

Charlie, a resident, is not allowed to eat cookies because he is prone to choking. So I brought him a mug and a packet of hot cocoa mix, and went to the facility's kitchen to get warm water. He was so happy when he saw that he would get to have a treat, and I sat next to him to help him drink the hot cocoa. He loved it so much that he kept asking for more!

I knew that we might finish decorating the cookies a bit earlier than the time slot ended, so I brought in my ornament-decorating kit! I passed around paper ornaments, stickers, and ribbon to the guests and volunteers. They all had fun decorating ornaments while snacking on their decorated holiday cookies.

When we were finished decorating the ornaments, I gathered everybody round the facility's Christmas tree so that we could hang them up! The guests had fun hanging up their ornaments with the help of my volunteers, and admired their art work with pride and joy.

As I was leaving, one of the Assisted-Living Home's directors, Frank, handed me a gift! He thanked me for all the activities I plan for the senior homes. He told me that this gift was to show their appreciation for all I do. The gift included a lovely card with an adorable puppy on its cover, continuing to thank me. This gesture made me feel so appreciated and was truly touching.

Christmas is right around the corner, and through Hearts&Hands, I made sure that the guests at the assisted-living facilities felt loved and appreciated. As my volunteers and I were leaving, the guests had huge smiles on their faces, asking "When will you be back!?".

At Hearts&Hands, when we do good, we feel good.

Happy Holidays, Charlotte Hendrey Founder of H&H