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Post by craftmepink on Jun 28, 2020 23:50:05 GMT
Have you seen this story about two sisters who started a letter writing campaign for senior citizens in nursing homes during the pandemic? It's such a sweet story! They started their own organization, Letters Against Isolation. Volunteers send letters and cards to nursing homes and each week they send a spreadsheet out and volunteers pick which letters they'd like to write. They've had over 14,000+ plus letters. I'm definitely doing this. Any else? I have lots of homemade cards and plan to write every week. Link to story: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/25/two-sisters-wanted-lift-lonely-seniors-spirits-their-organization-has-sent-14000-letters/#comments-wrapperIn case you don't want to click on the link, here's the article you can google from the Washington Post: Two Sisters wanted to lift lonely seniors' spirits. Their organization has sent over 14,000 letters. |
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Post by mom on Jun 29, 2020 0:05:19 GMT
A couple of local nursing homes have started campaigns for their clients. I have made cards and send them but I dont pick who they go to. They're just generic 'happy' theme cards that offer encouragement.
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Post by ShesaRenegade on Jun 29, 2020 0:17:01 GMT
Thank you for sharing. I just signed up. This will be fun.
I'm a letter writer by nature. I have several global pen pals, I write my granddaughter every week (she's 11), and participate in Postcrossing dot com. In fact, tomorrow I have 30 postcards headed out across the US and Canada.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jun 29, 2020 0:21:43 GMT
One of my dog groups has been sending letters to isolated seniors for a few months. We write them from our dogs and include pictures  I love seeing our isolated people not being forgotten  |
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Post by maryland on Jun 29, 2020 0:22:52 GMT
What a great idea! Thanks for posting! I would love to do something like this. But I have a dumb question (I always have dumb questions!  . What do you write about in these letters? I want to make sure I do it the right way. I don't have a subscription, so I don't think I can read the article. |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jun 29, 2020 0:27:42 GMT
I so feel for seniors isolated right now. It's just horrible!
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Post by craftmepink on Jun 29, 2020 0:42:48 GMT
What a great idea! Thanks for posting! I would love to do something like this. But I have a dumb question (I always have dumb questions! . What do you write about in these letters? I want to make sure I do it the right way. I don't have a subscription, so I don't think I can read the article. Not a dumb question! I wrote one letter today about ice cream and my favorite summer memory. I also wrote about my favorite season and my rose garden. I think write anything uplifting, a funny story, any books you read, any tv shows you watched, places you traveled to, anything you like to do. Writing about your day might be fun to hear about too. |
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Post by maryland on Jun 29, 2020 0:46:16 GMT
What a great idea! Thanks for posting! I would love to do something like this. But I have a dumb question (I always have dumb questions! . What do you write about in these letters? I want to make sure I do it the right way. I don't have a subscription, so I don't think I can read the article. Not a dumb question! I wrote one letter today about ice cream and my favorite summer memory. I also wrote about my favorite season and my rose garden. I think write anything uplifting, a funny story, any books you read, any tv shows you watched, places you traveled to, anything you like to do. Writing about your day might be fun to hear about too. Thanks for the ideas! I don't have much interesting to say about myself (I am pretty boring!  ). But I could write about my kids. My husband likes to garden, so I could even send pictures of the flowers in the yard. |
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Post by maryland on Jun 29, 2020 0:47:31 GMT
One of my dog groups has been sending letters to isolated seniors for a few months. We write them from our dogs and include pictures I love seeing our isolated people not being forgotten That's a great idea too! I have a German Sheperd, and I have lots of pictures of her and stories about her to share. What a nice thing your dog group is doing! |
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jun 29, 2020 2:30:26 GMT
One of my dog groups has been sending letters to isolated seniors for a few months. We write them from our dogs and include pictures I love seeing our isolated people not being forgotten That's a great idea too! I have a German Sheperd, and I have lots of pictures of her and stories about her to share. What a nice thing your dog group is doing! It’s fun because it’s an urban mushing group so a lot of different breeds. Not just sled dogs  |
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J u l e e
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,531
Location: Cincinnati
Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by J u l e e on Jun 29, 2020 3:13:43 GMT
One of my dog groups has been sending letters to isolated seniors for a few months. We write them from our dogs and include pictures I love seeing our isolated people not being forgotten This is so sweet! I would think it would be fun to get a letter from a dog with pictures. |
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Post by Lexica on Jun 29, 2020 3:27:50 GMT
This is wonderful! I just signed up too. Not only will it help the seniors that receive cards and letters, but I think it will help me feel less isolated too. I'm really beyond reaching my limit on staying inside my house by myself. I have been feeling quite depressed lately. And I find myself talking to the dog about ordinary things just to talk. He will stare at me intently and turn his head back and forth waiting for a word he recognizes like walk, bath, breakfast, go get your toy, or dinnertime! I think I need to communicate with people instead.
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Post by scrappintoee on Jun 30, 2020 9:45:27 GMT
craftmepink: Thanks for posting this! Imagine if people out there who spend their time spewing hatred, racist slurs, and complaining about wearing masks would spend that time doing something KIND for other people! One of my dog groups has been sending letters to isolated seniors for a few months. We write them from our dogs and include pictures This is wonderful !!! I used to take my doggies to visit Nursing Homes, and the pure JOY on the residents' (and staff!) faces was sooo heartwarming! This is something else I can do instead I never would have thought to make the letters in my doggie's words, but that is such a fun idea !!!! Lexica ....I'm sorry you're feeling depressed. Maybe there are online groups that have zoom calls that you could participate in? For example, people that love their doggies (yours is so cute!). Or any other interests you have---I'll bet there are people you could talk to through your screen. I know it's not the same, but...ugh...these are such weird times!
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Post by scrappintoee on Jun 30, 2020 9:49:05 GMT
Thanks for the ideas! I don't have much interesting to say about myself (I am pretty boring! ) I might be wrong, but I doubt the letter writers talk much about themselves. The residents will be thrilled just to get a card! Many of them never have visitors---EVER! (and that's pre-quarantine). You can just say neutral things, easy topics like weather, send a card with a beautiful sunset on it, tell them that you're thinking of them and hope they are their fellow residents are doing well, etc. You could even include something about history. You could say something like how great it is that we have the technology these days for us to find about about wonderful programs like this, etc. |
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jun 30, 2020 12:48:24 GMT
craftmepink : Thanks for posting this! Imagine if people out there who spend their time spewing hatred, racist slurs, and complaining about wearing masks would spend that time doing something KIND for other people! One of my dog groups has been sending letters to isolated seniors for a few months. We write them from our dogs and include pictures This is wonderful !!! I used to take my doggies to visit Nursing Homes, and the pure JOY on the residents' (and staff!) faces was sooo heartwarming! This is something else I can do instead I never would have thought to make the letters in my doggie's words, but that is such a fun idea !!!! Lexica ....I'm sorry you're feeling depressed. Maybe there are online groups that have zoom calls that you could participate in? For example, people that love their doggies (yours is so cute!). Or any other interests you have---I'll bet there are people you could talk to through your screen. I know it's not the same, but...ugh...these are such weird times! Dds 4-H club used to take their dogs to nursing homes. I kind of miss her 4-H days! I can’t wait until we can get out and interact with people again! |
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Post by Mel on Jun 30, 2020 12:55:20 GMT
I didn't read the article but my 14 y/o DD just sent off two letters to two ladies in a care facility in SC. |
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Post by ShesaRenegade on Jun 30, 2020 18:05:49 GMT
I didn't read the article but my 14 y/o DD just sent off two letters to two ladies in a care facility in SC. I think it's great that teens are participating. My granddaughter and I write letters to each other and I hope that she will start this, too. She's 11. |
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Post by maryland on Jun 30, 2020 23:08:41 GMT
Thanks for the ideas! I don't have much interesting to say about myself (I am pretty boring! ) I might be wrong, but I doubt the letter writers talk much about themselves. The residents will be thrilled just to get a card! Many of them never have visitors---EVER! (and that's pre-quarantine). You can just say neutral things, easy topics like weather, send a card with a beautiful sunset on it, tell them that you're thinking of them and hope they are their fellow residents are doing well, etc. You could even include something about history. You could say something like how great it is that we have the technology these days for us to find about about wonderful programs like this, etc. Great ideas! |
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Post by peased2bhere on Jul 1, 2020 2:07:13 GMT
Thank you for sharing this! Signed up and can’t wait to work on some letters this weekend.
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Post by SAHM wannabe on Jul 1, 2020 2:45:17 GMT
My dd (16) and I are members of a mother/daughter organization. We made 4th of July paper flowers to decorate the halls of a local senior home. The flowers were large and were a great way to use some of my scrapbooking supplies!
Next we will be making cards for seniors and recipients of Meals on Wheels. We will be adding a large font word search in the cards. There are free programs online that can be used to create word searches. Some themes include summer words, old movie stars, classic movies, etc.
Hopefully these gestures brighten their day and they get as much joy out of them as we get making them.
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Post by miss_lizzie on Jul 1, 2020 10:52:37 GMT
Thanks so much for sharing this!
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. What do you write about in these letters? I want to make sure I do it the right way. I don't have a subscription, so I don't think I can read the article.
). But I could write about my kids. My husband likes to garden, so I could even send pictures of the flowers in the yard. 
