The Arborwood Nursing home is a great organization which takes care of the adults, and provides food and shelter. They excel in adult daycare, assisted living, and senior apartments. I first volunteered on November 19th of this year, and then volunteered again on December 4th. Both of these days I have worked from 6-7 PM. I was not handed any major responsibility during both my visits and was just to entertain the people living there and bring them joy.
My first visit was surprisingly fun, since I was extremely nervous and didn’t know what to expect. As soon as I got there, I saw other students from the Key Club, and lightened my mood. As soon as I saw the smile on the old people’s faces I was filled with happiness and comforted. At the beginning of the hour, I began to communicate with them, and I, personally, thought they would be grumpy people, but they turned out to be fun! I learned to play some wacky game called Bongo, the first card game with dice.
I twas saddening, though to see them with the aches, but I did what I could and tried to help them in my time there. This visit just brought joy to everyone, including me. People were happy to see us, and we had a good time. Theres is a definite sign of loneliness in their eyes, and its saddening to see them separated from their families. But, its a relief to see it lessen when we were around. Personally, I never thought I could do this.
I love helping people, but this was something new for me. I’m just glad that there are places, such as this, that take care of important people who were, and still are, part of this community. I’m also glad that these organizations provide activities for them to do, since being trapped in a building all day can be suffocating. I will definitely be going again next month, and continue the time after that. And I will also be informing others about this great oppurtunity.