In our fast-paced, chaotic world, it is often easy to overlook the opportunity to help others with acts of kindness.
Cheryl Weaver, activities director at Hillcrest Island Home, provides multiple opportunities for the residents to remain connected to the community. In May, they celebrated National Nursing Home Week’s theme Cultivating Kindness through five Cultivating Kindness Projects.
Residents began collecting new socks, new underwear and toothbrushes for boys and girls ages toddler to teen for Compassion Closet and Isaiah 117 House. A second project involved collecting Clorox wipes and Play Dough for the pre-k special education class at Dogwood Elementary. Residents contributed to care baskets for Saving Grace Women’s Home. Safe Haven Center became uninhabitable after a car wreck so Hillcrest Island Home residents donated gift cards to eating establishments to help the Safe Haven residents have a place to eat while waiting for renovations to be completed.
The residents’ culminating project involved support for the friends at the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging Mobile Meals program.
Director Weaver asked volunteer Randy Suddarth to design a placemat according to the theme, and he made the design. Many of the residents began excitedly coloring, but two in particular colored day and night. Weaver says, “Every time I saw Jean Gibson and Betty King in the dining room, they were coloring and asking to take some back to their rooms.”
The goal was to complete 50 placemats and the donation surpassed that number. The placemats were laminated and delivered to the Mobile Meals program.
The residents of Hillcrest Island Home led by Cheryl Weaver exemplify what acts of kindness should look like for all of us in our communities.
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