Holiday Community Campaign "Wrap a Senior in Love" to Honor Seniors in Nursing Homes

Oct. 15, 2008 - PRLog -- Kirkland, WA - They are our fathers, our mothers, our neighbors and our friends, and yet every year numerous seniors in local Nursing Homes will spend the Holidays alone, depressed and forgotten. But together, businesses and individuals on the Eastside of Seattle are making a difference by participating in the “Wrap a Senior in Love” Community Campaign.

Organized by Makaylaa Powers, owner of Visiting Angels in Kirkland, the goal is to ensure that every senior in a nursing home on the Eastside will be remembered, acknowledged and honored during the holiday season. Through the generous purchase and donation by Kirkland Chamber of Commerce members, local businesses and individuals, of LOVE blankets, the program is committed to wrapping more than one thousand seniors in love for the 2008 holiday season.

There are multiple ways for Eastside businesses, organizations and individuals to get involved in the campaign. Employers can donate a specific amount of blankets directly through the web site www.wrapaseniorinlove.com or, implement their own “Wrap a Senior in Love” holiday donation program encouraging their employees to give through the easy online purchase system. Flyers will be provided for distribution in employee’s paychecks or newsletters or for posting in staff rooms and on bulletin boards.

Individuals can also participate in by visiting the web site and donating a blanket to be delivered to one of the many nursing homes involved in the program. A small group of carefully targeted retail stores will also participate with an in-store display and business cards directing customers to the web site. No sales will be made directly at these locations. The LOVE blankets are produced, sold and distributed by program partner Affirmagy, a Washington women-owned business founded by Kristen Marie Schuerlein. Each blanket will sell for $25 (Reg. price is $40).

Makaylaa Powers, whose Eastside business, Visiting Angels, provides non-medical home care services in King County to help the elderly live independently in their own home, organized the program as a way to “give back” to the senior community. Knowing that there are many seniors no longer able to live independently, she felt the nursing homes were the perfect place to do so.

“I have been so blessed in my business,” says Powers. “I wanted to reach out to a segment of our senior population that is sometimes forgotten. There are so many holiday giving programs for children and other populations, but I’ve yet to see one for seniors."

According to Powers, most seniors in nursing homes will not go home again and many are without families to connect with during the holiday season. “I just think it is sad to think of seniors who have given so much to our lives and our futures not being recognized during the holidays.”

Powers connected with Kristen Marie Schuerlein (Affirmagy) through an introduction by Susan Burnash of Purple Duck Marketing. When Powers shared her goals for the “Wrap a Senior in Love” Program, Schuerlein felt an instant connection to the program.  

“Participating in this community campaign gives me the opportunity to touch the life of a senior I may never know,” says Schuerlein “and personally, that’s powerful. The fact that “Wrap a Senior in Love” is focused on giving back to the senior population is in perfect alignment with Affirmagy’s own commitment to encourage, enrich and inspire lives.”

The Kirkland Chamber of Commerce’s Community Outreach Program also found the “Wrap a Senior in Love” Community Campaign to be in perfect alignment with their own goal of involving chamber members and businesses with programs that benefit the community as a whole. They have endorsed the program and are promoting it not only to their own members but to businesses and individuals across the Eastside as well.

“We are encouraging our members and their businesses to get involved not only by donating blankets themselves but by going out into the surrounding communities and encouraging other business to get involved too,” says Steve Brown, Vice President of Community Outreach for the Kirkland Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Evergreen Healthcare. “It’s a wonderful way to get to know other business professionals, honor those who paved the way for all of us and celebrate the true meaning of the holiday season.”

Business and individuals who would like to learn more about “Wrap a Senior in Love” and how they can get involved can call Powers at Visiting Angels (425) 828-4500 or email makaylaa@eastsideangels.com. For flyers and posters contact: Susan Burnash of Purple Duck Marketing at (425) 896-8959 or email susan@purpleduckmarketing.com.

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