Small (and large!) gestures provide endless enjoyment - donations to Senior Center during the pandemic

By Theresa LaCroix, Executive Director

Shoreline - Lake Forest Park Senior Center

It seems so long ago that we were completely shut in from our families, neighbors and friends due to the high level of risk associated with the COVID pandemic. 

While the world hunkered down, Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Senior Activity Center was in full swing, providing what is termed Direct Emergency Services. This included services such daily meals home delivered, groceries donated to those housebound (lack of bus service), and a host of additional tasks as needed.

A serious concern that quickly became apparent to us was the negative effects of Social Isolation that we were all experiencing. For seniors who no longer have family members in the community, or they have passed away due to age, life became very mundane and lonely.

We are very appreciative to those who donated magazines and puzzles for us to share with those most isolated.

Ms GM Wiegand donated 1,000 disks of movies and TV shows to the Senior Center
Photo by Johanna Polit

One individual who truly made a difference was Shoreline resident Ms GM Wiegand, as she, along with her daughter, gathered her collection of DVD discs, catalogued each one and delivered them to the senior center. 

In all, we received 476 DVDs, which provided a wide variety of interests from collections of Turner Classics and TV series such as Lucille Ball, to current day movies/TV series such as Sex in the City, and Planet Earth. Our library was filled with artists such as Sidney Poitier, Frank Sinatra, Robert DeNiro, Robert Redford, Gene Kelly, Bette Midler, Sissy Spacek and many more that we all know and love.

In addition there were boxed sets of television series, including the entire Star Trek universe, bringing the total donation to over a thousand disks.

Each week, we were able to choose 3-4 videos and deliver them to the homes of isolated seniors, providing them some lighthearted entertainment for the week. 

The following week, we would exchange them for new videos, always sending a variety of interests. As we have moved past the pandemic, we continue to loan out the videos, providing affordable free entertainment for those on budgets.

We are most grateful for Ms. Wiegand's donation for the laughter, joy, tears, and pure enjoyment she brought into our homes.