News Blog

I get the privilege of working with residents at nursing homes one day a week.  I have been doing this for over a year, assisting an optometrist, doing eye exams for residents that are immobile.  When I went to San Francisco and attended the Leadership Summit, I took a class with Carmen Mauk about BWB.  I left feeling really inspired to do SOMETHING to make a difference.  My mind was racing with ideas and I finally decided on Fruitful Seniors.  As I visit these nursing homes and get to know the residents, it makes me sad.  It must be hard to feel “stuck” somewhere.  These folks can’t just take off and blow off steam.  Most of them are either bed ridden or unable to leave the home.  I’m sure you can only watch so much t.v. and play so much bingo until it drives you crazy.  I also notice that most of these residents have donuts and candy as a snack.  I know how much your diet can affect the way we feel.

 

I came up with the idea of building raised garden boxes (wheel chair height).  With the help of friends and fellow burners, we built the boxes.  I received the heirloom vegetables at a substantial discount and was able to talk the guy who we bought the soil from into giving us a discount.  The boxes ended up being more time consuming than I expected, but well worth it.  With the help of our friends, measuring, cutting, sanding, staining, screwing and lining the boxes was definitely a team effort.  I chose the homes we put the garden boxes in based on the staff and knowing that they would be taken care of.

 

With the help of my husband and a hand full of friends, we brought the boxes, soil and vegetables to the homes.  We even had Fox 13 news come and do a short story on our project.  Some residents came out to either watch us or help us.  One gentleman started to cry.  He said that it meant so much to him to have people love and care for them.  It touched my heart and made all of the work worth it.  I felt tired, dirty, sun burnt and full of gratitude.I have worked at two of the homes since we put in the boxes.  They are beautiful and lush.  I am told by the staff that the residents come out and water by hand every day.  They enjoy sitting out there weeding, watering and just looking at the veggies.  I am also hoping that the gardens will spark something in these residents to want to eat better as well.I am only one person.

 

I am busy like everyone else.  I help throw a regional event here in Utah and I’m on the Board of Directors.  I have four kids, a home, a husband, a lot of animals and I work.  If I can do this, anyone can. Doing this project also helped me to concentrate on other’s needs and made my problems seem so small.   Thank you so much for believing in my project.  This made some seniors(and myself) very very happy:)