while at pamida.....

[favesis37]

picking up dh's medicine, i saw the christmas tree where you hang names to help the needy. i walked over there and noticed the only names and ages that were left was the elderly. it was very sad to know no one had picked these people. i am glad the kids got chosen but the elderly need items also. so i thought hmmm.... i have o money but i have fabric i could do lap quilts. so i came home and called the nursing home, they told me no. that lap quilts had to be washed adn names had to be put in them. i could not believe it.
after i got over being mad i thought oh well, next year i will chose a elder adn buy what i can. just a reminder, please keep the elders in your thoughts this year.

[MarshHen]

That is so sad. I'm sure the elderly would have loved having a lap quilt of their own. We do gift baskets at our church with socks, lotion and fruit for our nursing home here. But ya know, you may still be able to do a few lap quilts to give out to someone at your local hospital. God blesses a giving heart.....Thanks for blessing us with your giving spirit!

[favesis37]

the only hospital is several miles away and with hubby not working i can not jsutify a trip(unless he goes back in) but i love the idea of gift baskets, once he goes back to work( if he does) maybe i will start picking small things up for gift baskets.

you mentioned lotion and socks? what other kinds things do you put in them?

[lottaLove]

That is very sad. Everyone wants to buy gifts for a young child, and forgets about the older people. Would they maybe accept a basket of baked goodies? Or maybe even the gift of your time? I worked for a short while at a nursing home, and some of the seniors get very lonely, even going to spend an hour talking means a lot. It seems almost silly that they have those restrictions on lap quilts.

[favesis37]

i have worked as a cna for 20 years and have never heard of such a thing. i was amazed at them not taking them. i can't donate time, when not at work i need to stay by dh , there are so manythings he can not do. like walk barefoot(of course he is not walking yet) he can't fall, bump into any hting, shave all kinds of fun stuff. i will set my goal for next year.

[thriftstorequeen]

A friend of mine used to take her kids over to a local nursing home on Christmas day The kids would sing and visit with the folks. The kids liked it and sooo did the folks! When you get down to it time is the most cherished gift we can give to someone.

[kymom]

Last year my daughter Heather ran into the same problem. She was on a school trip and a little lady was talking to her . Of course Heather loved her. She started going to see her once a week. AT Christmas she brought her tons of gifts. One was a beautiful quilt. The nurse told her to take it home beacuse she would just throw it way when it got dirty. Well my Heather will stand up for what she belives and those she loves. She went to the owners of the home and told them she would wash the quilt weekly and if any one touched the quilt she would sue them for mental cruelity!! lol thats my girl!
Well her little lady passed away a couple of months ago. In her will she left Heather a letter and the quilt. She told Heather she loved her and to wrap the quilt around her when ever she needed a hug. Because thats what she always did. We found out at her layout she had 4 kids!! I thought Heather was going to rip them apart!

[tigo]

We decided this year to play secret santa to two people at a nursing home. I wouldn't have thought of it except one of the ladies at work puts it together. Her husband needed 24 hour care before his death and she saw how many people didn't have anyone to remember them during the holidays. It really does make me mad that these people have children but no one comes by even on holidays. I can't imagine doing that to my parents.

[hollyhill]

Oh my Kymom, your daughter is so wonderful!

This thread makes me so sad....because what the elderly need more than anything is time..... something everyone seems so short of. Our children perform in nursing homes every Christmas, but it isn't enough.
One thing our church does every year is "adopt" a home for the adult mentally disabled. Thereare seniors here too, often with no living relatives left who care about them, and they don't recieve a single gift. We each pick a name and purchase their Christmas requests. Wrap them up and then throw a party for them...complete with Santa Claus. Some of them are so mentally young that they still believe in Santa....

I am going to check out the Christmas tree at our mall a little more closely and see if there are any seniors on it. Maybe there is something I can do!