Holiday Gratitude

The spirit of community was strong this holiday season as Full Life Care supporters shared generously with our clients. 

Our wonderful community and volunteer partnerships resulted in an outpouring of 75 prefilled gift bags from Lutheran Community Services Northwest’s Santa for Seniors program and over 65 handmade lap quilts from University Presbyterian Sewing Group, Quilters Anonymous and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church quilters. We received over 120 handmade hats, scarves, and shawls created by Solid Ground’s Knit-It-Alls and over a dozen community volunteers. More than 800 handmade greeting cards were created by over 300 community volunteers. $800 in gift cards were donated by St. Mathew Parish and Our Lady of Fatima Parish gave funds to support additional gift cards to offer flexible support directly to clients.

These handmade and curated items along with targeted gift cards directly support hundreds of clients in our Adult Day Health, Housing Stabilization and Supports, Homecare and volunteer-based ElderFriends and Care Teams programs. 

Volunteers from Vietnamese Martyrs Parish student groups supported our effort to send a handmade holiday greeting to every Homecare client (over 600 in total). “Clients always love getting cards. It shows that someone is thinking about them and gives them a feeling of connection. I think such a small act can really make a big impact for someone, especially over the holidays,” shared Homecare Client Intake Supervisor Lily Kincannon.

Our Health Home team frequently visits clients in their homes and other community settings and delivered Santa for Seniors bags as well as handknit scarves and shawls throughout the holiday season. Care Coordinator Melissa Morales Warming shared,  “My clients found the items in the gift bags to be practical and were immediately able to put them to use. One client with very limited income and who barely leaves the house desperately needed a calendar and was very grateful for it. Another client whom I gifted a shawl admired the crochet handiwork and put it on while I met with her.” Her colleague Mae Hochstetler added, “My clients were so pleased with the quilts, the gift bags and the beautiful shawls and scarves….they were blessed to have something that was so thought out and special for them.”

All of these tangible contributions make a positive impact as we continue to share these gifts with clients throughout the year.  As ElderFriends participant Jean expressed, “Thank you for helping us feel like we are connected to a community.”

Learn more about volunteering! https://fulllifecare.org/ways-to-give/volunteer/