100 bags of sunshine

Westlake Senior & Community Services employee Joe Starin's smile is a ray of sunshine. He is shown packing food and supply baskets. Photo by Cindi Lindgren

In mid-March, two weeks prior to Governor Mike DeWine's order, the West Shore senior centers proactively suspended all senior activities. That being said, we are all busier than ever creating physically distant avenues to serve the public, especially seniors, during this time of greater need. And, although we have all pared down our services, observing rules on essential versus nonessential employees, we are still open via phone and email, often handling inquiries on a case by case basis.

An obvious need is food. Thankfully we have been hearing that neighbors and families have been dedicated to helping their elder loved ones get the supplies they need and thus limiting unnecessary trips to the store. As for folks who do not have help, we are working with them on a case by case basis. In Westlake, we also operate a food pantry which is available to all Westlake residents in need (regardless of age).  Our food pantry requests have increased by over 25% in these first weeks as so many have faced a loss of income after being laid off.

Another need that we all have is emotional support. We are trying our best to help people feel connected and positive through phone outreach and interactive emails we send out twice a week. These emails include often include links to virtual tours, exercise classes, inspirational words, puzzles and pictures of some of our past activities. Last week's email took us on a spectacular tour of Hawaii. Our latest edition gives instructions to our subscribers to participate in a Spirit Week, where we are encouraging folks to dress up in a specific theme everyday (mismatched Monday for example) and email us their pictures so we can share. Our regular patrons will enjoy seeing the faces of friends that they haven't been able to see these few weeks.

Our 100 Bags of Sunshine project was also geared to randomly surprise some of our residents and let them know we are thinking of them. Inspired by two of our program sponsors (Brookdale Senior Living and Foundations Health) who asked what they could do to help, we came up with the idea to put together these bags of sunshine filled with random things to brighten the day. Our sponsors immediately worked on procuring donations. Cookies by Cris heard about our project and joined as a donor. 

The project became intergenerational as we also asked our community's youth to get involved by drawing pictures or making cheerful cards. In addition to sweet treats and cards, items in the bag included word search and crossword puzzles, gratitude and meditation worksheets, bubbles and yes, even a roll of toilet paper! The bags were delivered by our Westlake police.

The comments that came in from the surprised recipients made everybody's day, proving that by giving you also receive. Here are a few of the comments:  

  • "The officer asked if I was okay and if I needed anything. He was so kind when he dropped off the bag. This bag makes me so happy...."
  • "I am so touched with all of my heart. I thank you all. I miss you all. Please stay safe."
  • "Thank you for the bag of Sunshine. The best part of the delivery was the cute officer who knocked on my door. It made my day!"
  • "Thank you for the bag. I really appreciated the bubbles! I haven't blown bubbles since my grandchildren were little and it just brought such a smile to my face!"
  • "Thanks so much for the bag. I haven't looked at everything yet, but I saw the toilet paper. It was on my list. You really saved my butt!"
  • "Thank you so much for these inspiring communications and for the very thoughtful gift bag. Keep up the great job of helping our residents to feel involved and cared for.
  • "You make us old folks happy! I won't get depressed because of this. I want to hug each and every one of you but I can't, so take this call as a hug!"

While real hugs and contact aren't available to us all right now, the virtual hug really did feel good! There's so much in this world that we can't control, but we can control our own acts of compassion and kindness. Each and every one of us can spread a little sunshine just by our words, and we all could use a dose of sunshine.

Lydia Gadd

I am the Director of the Senior and Community Services Department for the City of Westlake. I am also a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.

Read More on Community Service
Volume 12, Issue 7, Posted 9:43 AM, 04.07.2020