Introducing... BINGO!

Saturday, April 12th 2025

By: Charlotte Hendrey

Today I invited 6 volunteers -- 2 from Marin Catholic High School, 3 from San Rafael High School, and our Social Media Manager who goes to Archie Williams High School with me -- to come play Bingo and make easter egg art with the residents at Bello Gardens Assisted Living.

I always come ten minutes early to set up before the volunteers arrive, but this time they all came early too! So they all helped me set up for coloring. Many of the residents felt tired in the beginning and did not want to participate, but I explained to the volunteers that if they are just really nice then the residents will reciprocate.

I brought a speaker to play music while we colored in easter egg print outs, and the volunteers were having trouble speaking to their partners (I give every volunteer an elderly "partner" to work with). So I walked around the table and started to initiate conversations between each partner groups to break the ice. Once that was done, everyone was laughing and talking to one another. The volunteers came out of their shells and were being super kind to the residents.

One resident, Ralph, was coloring in some sheep! He made every one blue, and when we asked him if he could give them tails, he pointed at one sheep and said "This one is a rebel! He will be mad if I give him a tail!" We were all laughing along with Ralph at his silly statement. Ralph is always super funny.

We had 15 minutes left, so I told everybody to clean up so we could play Bingo! I ordered Animal Bingo off of Amazon, and this was the first time I had brought it to play with the residents. We explained the instructions while handing out the Bingo cards. I asked each resident which animal card they wanted, almost all of them chose the fox card! Ralph immediately began to name all the animals on his bingo card, and his partner was laughing and smiling along.

We had a blast playing bingo, and everybody got really into it. The volunteers who at the beginning were shy and kept to themselves had completely turned around. All of a sudden they were screaming "BINGO!" and firing competitive remarks at each other. The 2 boys from Marin Catholic were each partnered up with 2 elderly ladies named Madelyn and Ingrid, and it was amazing how fast they became friends. "We have to beat that team!", one boy told Madelyn (his partner) pointing at his friend across the table. Madelyn laughed so hard that she couldn't stop!

We played three rounds of Bingo, and we all had so much fun that we lost track of time and ended up staying an extra half hour. The guys thanked me for hosting this volunteer event, and the girls stayed to help me clean up. Overall, all the volunteers were really helpful and fun for the residents!

🌟 About Hearts & Hands

 Hearts and Hands is a volunteer movement where students share their time, creativity, and compassion with seniors. From games and art to holiday cookie decorating, Hearts & Hands builds meaningful bridges across generations. Find out more at hhmarin.org.