Edison students give gifts to area seniors
PARKERSBURG - Edison Middle School students and teachers donated gifts to two area nursing homes Wednesday morning to be handed out on Christmas Day.
The Friends Of Rachel, or FOR Club, works with area nursing homes on a regular basis, providing activities and friendship for seniors.
This year, however, COVID-19 restrictions made in-person visits impossible. Instead, students gathered and delivered gifts which will be distributed Christmas morning. The group Wednesday morning dropped off gifts for nearly 60 residents at Cedar Grove Nursing Home and Parkersburg Care Center.
“We’re delivering gifts for Christmas. It’s things like blankets, crosswords, fuzzy socks,” said eighth grader Donovan McDonald. “It makes me feel good.”
Edison teacher and FOR Club advisor Gretchen Engnes said in years past the club would have 100 or more members who would forge friendships with senior residents.
“Every year we adopt residents who don’t have family to bring them gifts or visit with them,” Engnes said. “Normally we would come visit every month and do crafts with them, especially at Christmas, but this year we couldn’t due to the COVID.”
Since in-person classes also have been suspended, Engnes said it has been more challenging getting members of the club together for projects. Even so, the majority of this year’s members have been part of the FOR Club projects in the past, and were intent on making sure residents had a merry Christmas.
“They form relationships. They want to come back and see them, even after they’ve left Edison,” she said. The students “want to do anything they can for them.”
Amy Cole, resident coordinator for Cedar Grove, said the residents miss talking to and interacting with the students.
“It always brightens their day. It’s a positive” event, she said.
Cole said being able to distribute gifts on Christmas morning also is very uplifting to the staff.
“It warms our hearts,” she said.
The Edison FOR Club also gathers food donations throughout the year and last week distributed meals to several area families, Engnes said. More families will receive meals this week thanks to the support of community groups and area churches.
More photos can be found on the Wood County Schools Facebook page.