Residents of Golden Oaks Village retirement community in rural Enid, OK, recently received drawings and letters from the children of Jenna Spencer, a local employee of the Visit Enid tourism office.
Their actions inspired the community to create a hashtag, #sharethecheer, to try to bring laughter, love and uplifting messages of comfort to residents who remain socially isolated from family and friends. Anyone interested in joining can upload a photo to Facebook or Instagram, including the hashtag.
The community also is encouraging parents of other area youngsters to have them write poems, draw pictures and share well wishes that we can read to residents. “Letters from the children will bring joy and will comfort them during this difficult time,” Golden Oaks says. “We will encourage our residents to write back as an activity.”
All mailed items will be sequestered for 24 hours and sanitized before being given to staff members to distribute and personally read to our residents, according to the community, which has more than 150 staff members and more than 250 residents across independent Living, assisted Living and skilled nursing.
Anyone interested in sending a letter or drawing to residents can mail it to: Golden Oaks Village, Attn: Share the Cheer, 5801 N. Oakwood Road, Enid, OK 73703.
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