Students at Washington Elementary completed a stuffed animal drive in December for the residents of the Rehabilitation Center of Lisbon and Cherry Ridge Manor in Mount Vernon. More than 1,000 stuffed animals were donated to the centers to serve as gifts for residence in the holiday season.
Second grade teacher Megan Hach said the drive started with a discussion her class was having during the holidays, on the importance of giving.
“The kids shared their ideas of different ways they could ‘give’ during the season and then I shared how I had heard through a post on a local social media site that the two local nursing homes would take stuffed animal donations,” Hach said.
Hach said residents really like stuffed animals, and they are routinely used as prizes at the care centers for Bingo winners, a game they play twice a week.
“We also talked about how the fourth graders at the elementary were reading buddies at the nursing homes prior to COVID, but how that hasn’t been able to happen for a few years now,” Hach said. “We talked about how lonely it could be in a nursing home, and how students could bring them cheer in a small way.”
With that, the stuffed animal drive was under way. Hach said students embraced the idea because it was something they were capable of doing on their own.
The drive started in early December, and students in all grades at Washington Elementary were able to participate over the three weeks the donation drive was happening.
“We collected all of the stuffed animals in big boxes in the front lobby throughout the month,” Hach said. “It was very exciting for the students to walk by the boxes and watch how the collection grew.”
This was the first year for this stuffed animal drive.
Over winter break, Hach and her sister-in-law loaded the stuffed animals from the school and took them to the Rehabilitation Center in Lisbon. The animals were counted, cleaned and readied for distribution. Some have been kept for future Bingo prizes, but because so many were collected, residents were also able to “shop” for ones they wanted to be displayed in their rooms, to share with visitors they may have.
“My sister in law said the residents were so happy to be able to shop for their very own stuffed animals and are so proud of their new ‘buddies.’” Hach said.
The second grade classes at Washington Elementary, Hach said, are hoping to go play Bingo with the residents sometime in the near future as well, so they can interact with residents, but also see how their donations are being used and bringing joy to residents at the care facilities.
A collection of stuffed animals on display outside a resident’s room.