Students Create Holiday Cards for Senior Citizens

Giving back to the community can be a rewarding experience to anyone who is involved. This holiday season, the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center put on an event for students to volunteer their time to make holiday cards for senior citizens who are in assisted living homes.

The cards will be going to around 140 residents in four different locations, including: Maplewood Assisted Living, Andahwod Senior Care, Rosebush Manor and Green Acres Assisted Living, where the volunteer center also sends students for Adopt-A-Grandparent.

The cards are set to be delivered during finals week.

Elizabeth Morgan, Adopt-A-Grandparent coordinator, says making these cards will help bring holiday spirit into the assisted living homes.

“The reason we do this during the holidays because some of the residents do not get as many visitors or their families can’t come see them,” Morgan said. “They get lonely so we try to bring them a little bit of holiday cheer by giving them cards.”

As cards were being made, Service Student Coordinator, Lauren Lynn, challenged students to think about the event in a wider scope.

“I challenge you to really reflect on the kinds of things that you have and the kinds of things you would want the community to see you put effort into,” Lynn said.

Lynn believes this event can show how involved with the community Central Michigan University can be.

“These cards are like putting our stamp on the Mount Pleasant community,” Lynn said. “So really reflect on how you are impacting the Mount Pleasant community and how you’re being a leader.”

Junior Torey McNally began coming to events put on by the volunteer center in order to gain required hours, but really ended up liking the projects they work on.

“I am apart of AFSLP and they require 10 hours of volunteering,” McNally said. “When I first started looking into how to get involved I thought of the volunteer center. I started coming to these events and I really like what they do. My own grandma was in a nursing home so I thought this would be a really good event.”

McNally hopes that the cards that were made will make the holidays an easier time for senior citizens.

“Often times, families can’t spend the holidays with their grandparents or their loved ones and some of them don’t even have family,” McNally said. “So hopefully this will cheer them up and let them know they are being thought of and that they have people who care about them.”