Kids Make a Big Dif­fer­ence to Home­bound Seniors

December 18, 2018

Third and Fourth grade stu­dents at Nathan Hale Ele­men­tary School con­nect with local seniors through Ken­neth Young Center’s Meals on Wheels program.

Jack­son Bur­ress, a third grad­er at Nathan Hale Ele­men­tary School, has been vol­un­teer­ing for Meals on Wheels with his mom Haley for the past four years. ​“I love vis­it­ing my Meals on Wheels friends,” says Jack­son. ​“They are always so nice to me, tell me sto­ries, and some­times give me a piece of candy!”

For Jack­son, it’s more than an occa­sion­al sweet treat that keeps him return­ing to the hous­es of local home-bound seniors, hands full with a warm meal — he loves the fact that he can make some­one smile. ​“Some­times, we are the only peo­ple our Meals on Wheels friends see for the day,” says Haley, Jackson’s mom. ​“We make it a point to be cheery and kind, and we see that returned to us every time.”

Jack­son has got­ten his friends involved with Meals on Wheels through­out the past few years. He has asked neigh­bors if he could cut flow­ers from their gar­dens to give to the seniors on his Meals on Wheels route and has even brought a friend along to help deliv­er meals. This year, he enlist­ed the help of his teacher, Miss Ostrows­ki. Jack­son want­ed to see if his class­mates could each write a let­ter to bright­en the day of Meals on Wheels recip­i­ents. Miss Ostrows­ki jumped on board and soon the entire 3^rd and 4^th grade class­rooms were writ­ing letters!

“It was very reward­ing to see the kids get so excit­ed about writ­ing a let­ter to make some­one else hap­py,” says Miss Ostrows­ki. The kids learned about the Meals on Wheels pro­gram and worked hard to write a let­ter that was friend­ly, kind, and thought­ful. ​“The stu­dents knew their let­ters were going to be a bright spot in the day of a local senior and worked to make it spe­cial,” recalled Miss Ostrowski.

“The seniors loved receiv­ing their let­ters,” says Kate Gar­barek, Direc­tor of Devel­op­ment and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions at Ken­neth Young Cen­ter. ​“It is refresh­ing and inspir­ing to see kids ded­i­cat­ing their school time to kind­ness, as well as to the art of a thought­ful let­ter. We are so thank­ful for Jack­son, Miss Ostrows­ki, and the stu­dents at Nathan Hale School!”

The Meals on Wheels pro­gram, coor­di­nat­ed through the Ken­neth Young Cen­ter, serves more than 100 seniors through­out the local com­mu­ni­ty by deliv­er­ing hot and nutri­tious meals through­out the week. How­ev­er, some­times the vis­it, friend­ly face, and note from a lov­ing ele­men­tary school­er, means the most.

---

Previous Article Next Article