Retirement Community Residents Find Purpose During the Holidays
Thomasville, NC (PRWEB) December 22, 2013 -- Many residents at Piedmont Crossing Retirement Community in Thomasville, NC see the holiday season as a time to spread cheer and help those in need.
Residents of the Piedmont Crossing Village Association decided earlier in the year they wanted to do several projects to help those in need this holiday season. When they were considering which projects to undertake, they felt that helping those financially in need was as equally important as helping those emotionally in need. The residents also wanted their gifts to stay local.
Gathered in a kitchen at the retirement community, residents made a variety of sandwiches to deliver to Cooperative Community Ministry (CCM), an organization that helps Thomasville area citizens with health, food, housing and clothing needs. Residents at Piedmont Crossing also donated non-perishable food items to the Fairgrove Family Resource Center (FGFRC). The primary focus of FGFRC is to provide supportive and direct services to children and families living in the City of Thomasville and Eastern Davidson County. Their website gives a startling statistic that one in every three children and one in every seven adults suffer from hunger every day in Davidson County.
In early December, a small tree with paper hearts stood in the lobby of Piedmont Crossing. Those hearts held names of children in Thomasville whose families have fallen on hard times and are unable to provide clothing and toys for them at Christmas, a project also provided by FGFRC called Gifts from the Heart. Ginger Cranford, a resident at Piedmont Crossing, stated "It's amazing to see this tree full of hearts and within a week or so the hearts are gone. Staff and residents look forward to buying for these children so that they, too, can have a merry Christmas."
Residents in Piedmont Crossing's Village also felt compelled this year to help their own. In early December, a small tree was placed in a common space area on the campus of the retirement community. The tree originally held names of residents, most of which live in the Parkway Health Center at Piedmont Crossing. The residents names that were placed on the tree were those that will have few to no visitors during the holiday season. In a short time, each name was removed from the tree. Bobbie Hunter, a Village resident at Piedmont Crossing, said "The holidays can be a tough time for some. With this project, I'm able to give my time to help someone that may not otherwise have family or friends to visit them. It not only brightens their day, but it brightens mine as well. In my opinion, putting smiles on others faces is what the holiday season is all about."
Piedmont Crossing Executive Director Doug Russell shared, "Our residents are an important asset to the greater community. They enjoy giving back and sharing their resources and gifts. These gifts, in return, give Piedmont Crossing residents purpose-filled lives. A feeling of usefulness, worthiness and enhanced esteem is priceless."
Piedmont Crossing, a not-for-profit retirement community located on 61 beautiful acres in Thomasville, NC offers casual, comfortable cottages, town homes, and apartments as well as a variety of services. For more information on Piedmont Crossing visit http://www.piedmontcrossing.org or contact Blair White, Marketing Director, at 336-474-3605. Visit us on Facebook!
Joy Cline, United Church Homes and Services, http://www.uchas.org, +1 (828) 465-8014, [email protected]
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