IT FINALLY HAPPENED!! After months of planning, fundraising, and baking, I was able to deliver Sunshine Boxes to The Rose of East Des Moines on June 14th!!!
A little background on Sunshine Boxes:
Love for the Elderly (my platform and an amazing non-profit) aims to bring love, kindness, and generosity to all elderly individuals across America. Our two main programs are Sunshine Boxes and Letters of Love. To help with the Letters of Love program I go to schools, after school groups, and youth activities to speak to children about the importance of respecting and caring for people of all ages. We then write notes to the elderly to brighten their day! Can you imagine getting a letter of compassion from a stranger letting you know that there's someone out there who cares for you!? That is what we do for seniors across our nation. It is an amazing way to bring the young and elder people of our nation together.
The second program, and my passion project, is Sunshine Boxes! Our boxes (or bags, in this case) are care packages to an ENTIRE senior facility! Our bags were party/fiesta themed and included maracca pens, bandanas, colorful note pads, a note of love, and my homemade cookies! It costs $300 to do one round of Sunshine boxes, and I raised all the money through bake sales this year! It has been hard work but has been so worth it <3 one of my favorite parts of the Sunshine Boxes was the bags that the goodies were delivered in! Each one had a unique saying. We chose these bags because even though some residents may have dementia or Alzheimer's (like my grandmother did) and wont remember we were there, they will have a constant tangible reminder that they are loved and are truly amazing and inspiring
The residents I was able to speak with were absolutely thrilled that someone cared enough to do this for them and it was a great culmination of months of preparation. I am so thankful I have this opportunity to be a Kindness Ambassador for Love for the Elderly. I can hardly wait for our next round of sunshine boxes, there's no stopping me!
