‘Presents for Residents’ arranging Christmas packages for Charles City and Nashua care facility folks

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Wendy Luft, Cedar Valley Iowa Realty and several other groups and individuals are working to make sure that every single area resident of an assisted living home gets a little bit of attention this Christmas.

“We are collecting items for gift bags for our Charles City local nursing home residents,” Luft said. “These people are so isolated, and some are ill. It will be a big spirit-lifter for them.”

With the help of many generous donors, Luft and Cedar Valley are well on their way to putting together gift bags for every resident at five area care facilities — 11th St. Chautauqua, 9th St. Chautauqua, Apple Valley Assisted Living, Riverside Assisted Living in Charles City, and Cedar Vale in Nashua.

“We can’t fix the quarantine, but we can show our parents and grandparents how much we love them and that they are not alone,” Luft said. “Charles City loves each and every one of them.”

Suggested items for the gift bags include lotions, aftershave, kleenex, large print word finds, puzzles, playing cards, travel size shampoo, conditioner, body wash, individual snacks, candy, chocolate, toothbrushes, toothpaste, denture cleaner, chapstick, brushes and combs. Donations are not limited to this list, and any monetary donations will be used to fill bags. Items or monetary donations can be dropped off at Cedar Valley Realty in Charles City by Dec. 16.

Any excess items will be delivered to Comp Systems in Charles City, Luft said. In addition, the initiative hopes to give each nursing home and care facility resident a new blanket or quilt.

“After the blankets started coming in we decided to ask people to donate blankets so all 152 residents on our list would get one,” Luft said. “As of today (Wednesday), we have a little over 100 blankets.”

Susan Ayers, former administrator and current infection prevention nurse at Chautauqua, said that residents have been isolated since March 13 with extremely limited visitation, and many of the residents don’t fully comprehend why it’s happening, and no one really knows for sure when things will change back to a more normal visitation routine.

“They have missed their family and friends throughout the past nine months,” Ayers said. “They missed picnics and outdoor time as well as multiple family celebrations. This initiative will make each resident feel special and it will be wonderful to see the positive reactions at Christmas.”

Luft said that Cedar Valley’s New Hampton office launched a similar initiative in that city last year, and it was such a success and so highly-regarded that people started dropping items off this year before they had even committed to doing it again.

When they discussed expanding to Charles City and beyond, they were initially worried that they might not be able to accommodate that many residents, but Cedar Valley Realty owner Jerry Hegtvedt made a commitment to cover the rest should the donations come up short.

If the response so far is any indication, Hegtvedt’s pledge won’t need to be collected.

“Roger Sutton’s office and Kloberdanz Insurance office dropped off large checks, Central Park Dentistry donated bags with toothbrushes and toothpaste, and we had people Venmo me $500,” Luft said. “I started an Amazon wish list and soon the list was filled so I added more stuff.”

Luft said she received eight hand-made quilts from a woman in Fargo, North Dakota, and quilts, blankets and financial donations have arrived from local families as well as contributors from all over the Midwest.

“Last night a gal I graduated with asked if she could adopt all the Riverside residents, as her grandma is there,” Luft said. “The amazing thing is the incredible messages we have received from people who want to talk about their parents and grandparents.”

Luft said that’s been a common theme throughout.

“We miss them. We miss seeing them, talking to them in person, and hugging them,” Luft said. “Technology is great, but it’s not the same. Every single day is precious to these folks and their time is slipping away and they are alone, except for our caregivers who have stepped in as family members.”

The Luft family knows first hand what it feels like to be isolated from an elderly loved one.

Luft’s mother-in-law, a resident in a local facility, recently was transferred to Mason City for health issues, and due to the dialysis list being full, she has to stay there at a swing bed.

“She was transferred there the week before Thanksgiving and we have no idea when she will return,” Luft said. “So now she is all alone again and scared. She misses her nurses and wanted to spend the holidays with them.”

Luft said that her mother-in-law broke down and cried for the first time since becoming a resident, and her sadness and loneliness is just one of many examples of the toll isolation has taken on the many others in her situation.

She hopes that the care packages will help ease some of the burden on the health care workers as well.

“One of the nurses at Chautauqua said that every year the staff adopts a couple residents and makes them a gift bag,” Luft said. “This year they won’t have to do that, which helps them financially.”

Luft also mentioned a friend of hers, who said her mom came out of retirement as a nurse and has now worked at four different nursing homes to help with the shortage of nurses.

“Charles City cares, and there’s proof by all the boxes of stuff at our office,” Luft said.