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FROM OUR CHAPTERS
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Read a Wonderful Story from 33 Years Ago
CALIFORNIA: Mid-Peninsula
COLORADO: State
DELAWARE: Lewes
FLORIDA: Dade/Broward
NEW YORK:Long Island, New York City & Westchester
NEW YORK: Long Island Friends Of People With A.I.D.S.
OHIO: Columbus
OREGON: Portland
TEXAS: Houston
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Read some of our Best Practices
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 Submitted by Susan Hawkins Sager, who has lived in Austin TX for the past 30 years -- December 25, 1978, was the first time in nearly forty years that Christmas and the first day of Chanukkah fell on the same day. Back then, my husband, Alan, and I lived in an apartment in San Francisco. We were living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But when I looked outside that morning, all I could see was gray. It was overcast in my heart as well.
In the past, we had always spent holidays with our families. But this year, we couldn’t manage the round-trip airfare across country. I could feel every single one of those 2,588 miles. The distance felt even more poignant because I was pregnant with our first child. It was hard to be so far away from family when we were getting ready to start our own.
We needed to find a way to make this holidays meaningful, so we decided to take part in The Holiday Project. This is a national nonprofit organization that involves thousands of volunteers in visiting people in hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions.
The first Holiday Project Visit occurred on Christmas Day, 1973. Eight people joined together in San Francisco to visit patients at Laguna Honda Hospital. Afterwards, as the volunteers enjoyed lunch together, they decided to do it again the following year and invite others to join them.
The motto of The Holiday Project is, “You are the gift!” €Whatever else we may bring, our presence is the real gift. And the people we connect with are a gift to us.
So we offered to host a Holiday Project group at our place. Our apartment quickly became a whirlwind of activity. Twenty-five people arrived to take part. Our plan was to visit three different nursing homes and bring small gifts and some holiday cheer to patients and staff.
We all crowded into a small caravan of cars and set out. The three nursing homes were all within ten minutes of each other. Our first two visits went extremely well and about two hours later, we were ready to visit the last nursing home. By the time we reached our location, I was caught up in the holiday spirit. The sadness that had seemed so heavy only a few hours earlier was now gone.
Our group walked into the recreation room where there were about thirty people, including patients, relatives and staff. I was drawn to this gray-haired woman sitting in a wheelchair somewhat apart from the others. Around her neck she was wearing a large "chai," the Hebrew letter that symbolizes life. I walked over to her and said "Happy Chanukkah." She looked up at me but didn't answer.
I spoke to her again. "Shall I wish you 'Happy Chanukkah' or 'Merry Christmas' ?" A broad smile spread across her face. "Either one's okay with me, honey." In her slow, thick speech, she told me her name was Ethel. She explained how she had been raised in a home with a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. Then Ethel told a story from her childhood that had us both laughing.
I excused myself to get us both some punch, when the activity director approached me from across the room. "Did I just see Ethel speaking to you ?"
"Yes," I answered."
“That's incredible !" she replied. "Ethel had a major stroke a little over two years ago. She hasn’t spoken a word since. Her family was advised not to expect any more progress." She paused for a moment. "And to think she spoke today of all days. This is a miracle !"
I couldn't have agreed more. Around the world, Christians and Jews were celebrating the miracle of faith. Here in this nursing home, we were celebrating another miracle. A stroke victim had suddenly spoken after several years of silence.
And for me, there was one more miracle; smaller perhaps, but no less precious. The day had started out with me longing to spend time with family. And, as it turned out, I had gotten to do just that.
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Columbus OHIO -- Submitted by Cary
We went to nursing homes and visited with residents over the Christmas holidays. We hoped to spend time with those that otherwise would have no visitors during what should be a joyous time. We sang Christmas chorales, took small gifts and last year, we even had a juggler!
We would like to thank and congratulate this year's team leaders. Without their efforts and assistance this event could never take place. In total, 75 volunteers joined together to visit with 295 residents. Thanks for all of your support and assistance.
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Holiday Project People
Don Farrow
5555 Copenhagen Dr.
Westerville, OH 43081
Dear Don and Friends,
I would like to extend my sincere thank you to The Holiday Project People for the ministry, fellowship and commitment you bring to our Moritz patients on Christmas Day. Your involvement brings not only tradition, but also fellowship to our patients at a time that can be very lonely.
The caring conversations, singing of Christmas carols, the thoughtful gift bags and the refreshments were very much appreciated by our patients and staff alike. Please know that your Christmas Day visit contributes greatly to our patients mental health recovery. Thank you!
Twin Valley is very grateful to The Holiday Project People for celebrating Christmas with our Moritz patients. It is very much appreciated by TVBH leadership, our Moritz staff and most importantly our patients.
Gratefully,
Maureen Fahy
Director of Volunteer Services
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LONG ISLAND FRIENDS OF PEOPLE WITH A.I.D.S. -- Submitted by Allan
Today we held our 91st awesome visit (23rd annual Spring Hospital Visit Celebration). It featured a fantastic singer named Carolyn Harding with her trio http://youtu.be/TAYguJ4ZFf8, along with a complete italian dinner for all (patients, their families, and volunteers ). We were about 30 volunteers and visited about 30 patients, and everything went well. We'll do it again the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
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LONG ISLAND FRIENDS OF PEOPLE WITH A.I.D.S. -- Submitted by Allan
We had a great Thanksgiving visit today. We were about 40 volunteers and we visited about 40 patients (people with AIDS/HIV mostly bussed over from a nearby nursing home, pediatrics, adult psychiatric, pediatric psychiatric, and physical rehab). There was a four piece band with a great singer, and three other singers amongst the volunteers who also entertained. Most of the patients, who were able, got up and danced with the volunteers. There were lots of donations from the volunteers to the patients (clothing, books, videos, toiletries etc.) We had a full Thanksgiving dinner from an outside caterer, for everyone including patients and volunteers. In short, it was a blast. This visit marked our 24th anniversary, and our 95th visit! Our next visit will be to Nassau University Medical Center on December 18th, and a second visit that day to A. Holly Paterson Nursing Home.
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LONG ISLAND FRIENDS OF PEOPLE WITH A.I.D.S. -- Submitted by Allan
Today's Long Island Friends Of People With AIDS visits went wonderfully well. At Nassau University Medical Center we were 10 volunteers, and we visited about 65 patients (HIV/AIDS, Pediatric, Pediatric Psychiatric, Physical Rehab and others). After that, 3 volunteers from the original 10 made a second visit to A. Holly Paterson Extended Care Facility, where we visited another 20 AIDS/HIV residents.
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COLORADO -- Submitted by Max
The Colorado Chapter visited three hospitals, nine Health Care Facilities and one juvenile detention facility this year. Two hundred and sixty nine volunteers took part in visiting one thousand fifty two people. The VA Facility had a record amount of volunteers (42) show up this year, which speaks well for our community as a whole wanting to support our troops who have returned home wounded. Three calendar vendors donated their sales samples and a printing business donated their calendar order overruns for a total of about five hundred and seventy five calendars, which we distributed to six nursing care facilities and one residential treatment center for teenage girls.
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Lewes DELAWARE -- Submitted by Bob
The Cape Henlopen High School Army JROTC's Community Service Program (along with other enthusiastic volunteers) visited the Harbor Health Care and Rehabilitation Center on Christmas Day. This year, seventeen cadets and other Lewes residents participated. The Holiday Project afforded these young cadets and their parents/guardians and neighbors the opportunity to bring cheer to roughly sixty residents plus many staff members. Without the sponsorship of The Holiday Project the JROTC program would not have been able to achieve this task. Besides their great smiling faces, the cadets handed out stuffed animals and holiday cards, sang Christmas carols and provided the residents with some one-on-one quality conversation. Their two hour visit was sufficient to give the Cadets the unique experience of making a difference. One Cadet summed it up by noting, "This was the best Christmas I ever spent."
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 Portland OREGON -- Submitted by Bob
We arrived at the nursing home on Christmas morning full of good cheer. We had lots of home-made cookies and song sheets for the carolers. Thank you to all those who provided. We split into two groups -- those who would visit with the residents and the carolers, who roamed the halls singing with much love and enthusiasm. Besides the adults, we had a few children, and a little dog that was wearing something resembling a tutu. All of these were greatly appreciated by the residents who, for the most part, are surrounded only by adults.
 The cookies were appreciated by all, including the staff. The nursing home's activities director was there (on Christmas, on her own time!) and snapped lots of photos. Most of the volunteers were first-timers with The Holiday Project and you could see by their faces that this was a profoundly joyous experience for them.
At one point I was summoned to a room where lived a lovely old lady who wanted to meet the guy who had organized this thing. I find myself assuming that people that old (she was 98) would be, if not senile, of somewhat diminished capacity. Well she asked my name; I said it's Bob Lamb.  Then we talked about this and that for several minutes. During that time she said my name three times, correctly. I don't know about you, but when I am introduced to someone, it's not long before I say, “I'm sorry, tell me your name again.” So much for assumptions about the old folks.
Pretty soon, everyone seemed to be hanging out with each other and eating the rest of the cookies. For the residents who were bed-ridden, the dog was getting up there and laying next to them. You could see it was giving great comfort. When we all left, it was clear that we had experienced the true spirit of the day.
One participant commented:
"As a person with little close family to speak of, the holidays often get me down. I believe that friends are the family we choose for ourselves, but many of them are busy with their own families during the Christmas season. This year, rather than moping, I decided to create a more positive experience for myself. Through participating in The Holiday Project at the Glisan Care Center on Christmas day, I met many like-minded, positive people. One of my favorite activities happens to be singing, so I had a ton of fun caroling and interacting with the senior citizens there. I liked that we did it in the morning time -- what a great opportunity this was to set the tone for my entire day! It impressed me that several families participated, with one family returning for the second year. My favorite part? As we were serenading residents down the halls of the Glisan Care Center, some even rolled their wheelchairs to the doorway to get a better listen. One lady even gave us Candy Canes! I will be back and look forward to seeing familiar faces next year!"
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Mid-Peninsula CALIFORNIA -- Submitted by Graceann
We all enjoyed another splendid visit to Lytton Gardens Health Care Center. We had a record number of 50 participants this year, including about a dozen children and teens and we were delighted to have Santa and Mrs Claus join us again, as they have for many years. We had families from Peninsula School in Menlo Park and the spiritual community Companions on the Journey in Palo Alto. Several people found us on VolunteerMatch.org. About half of the participants were members and family of Aurora Singers, a Palo Alto based community chorus. Our director and her family have been participating at Lytton on Christmas Day since 1991.
The residents appreciated our visiting and singing. I am always moved when I see the smiles on their faces as well as the tears in their eyes as they remember Christmases past. Some folks may have cloudy memories, but the words of the songs come back in a flash when they hear the music of familiar Christmas carols. We bring cheer to the families of the residents and the staff who worked on Christmas Day.
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Houston TEXAS -- Submitted by Donna
Our 2010 Christmas Day Holiday Project Visit was a record breaker in Houston. Walter had 108 volunteers at the 9:30am Visit; they went to 6 nursing homes. And, he had 107 volunteers at the 12 noon visit that went to another 5 nursing homes and 1 hospital. I had 87 volunteers at 9:30am and we visited 7 nursing homes and 93 volunteers at 12 noon, visiting 8 nursing homes. In total, we had 395 volunteers that visited 27 facilities on Christmas morning!
It was a very touching experience watching the volunteers with the residents. As we have said many times before ... each was a gift to the other. Everyone was blessed by our visits!
I would, also, like to report that our Fish City Grill Benefit for The Holiday Project raised $294.
In addition, one of our local churches put an article about THP in their January newsletter; it’s printed and online to recruit volunteers from the church for upcoming visits.
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Dade/Broward FLORIDA -- Submitted by Patricia
This evening, we visited for Christmas Eve. We sang and, as you can see, my grandaughter Megan is a natural. She has been volunteering with The Holiday Project since she was 9 months old. She told me tonight, “Grandma, I am a regular now.” She hand-picked each gift from her bag of stuffed animals and put her arms around each person and asked if the person wanted to have a picture. She sang Spanish and English Christmas Carols, along with the Itsy Bitsy Spider. It was a wonderful visit -- like all the others! The more I see children involved, the more I know another generation will be following us.
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Long Island, New York City & Westchaster NY -- Submitted by David
This year, we plan to expand the number of Visits available for volunteers. Last year, there were 7 Visits, including Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island. We intend to add at least Westchester County this year. We received feedback from most of last year's 100 volunteer visitors and Team Leaders and they were thrilled to visit residents, and meet each other. The most crucial need are Team Leaders to enroll an institution to accept a visit and/or to manage the volunteers. Go to http://www.holidayproject.org/html/be_a_leader.html and select Team Leader guidelines to get a sense of it and let me know if you can help.
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Dade/Broward FLORIDA -- Submitted by Patricia
One of the great gifts of The Holiday Project is that you never know who will show up. It’s always a blessing. Working with OBW (One Beautiful World) has brought many families with children to visit the elderly; they announce our Visits in Parents magazine too. The fabulous Miami Dolfins Volunteers join us every month bringing new volunteers each time. Of course, our regular volunteers are wonderful and steadfast in their commitment to The Holiday Project.
Megan, my 3-year old granddaughter, has been going on Visits since she was a baby. So many people had not seen her in awhile, and could not believe how she has grown and is more beautiful, if that is possible. I take great pride in her; she sings, dances, and talks to the residents.
The Brownie and Daisy troops also joined us on our last Visit. There were so many people and the smiles we all brought were too beautiful for words.
Please remember, we will need gifts for the coming holidays. Please wash all your stuffed animals, and donate them to us. We can always use hankies, combs and sox.
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National Capital Area DC, VA & MD -- Submitted by Sally
Fall is here and we are gearing up for another great season. We already have Visits scheduled for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We hope to enroll enough Team Leaders to visit with 5,000 people this year.
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Dade/Broward FLORIDA -- Submitted by Patricia
We sponsored a wonderful concert for the residents of Regent's Park and Rehab celebrating the 4th of July on Saturday, July 3. There are approximately 300 residents at this facility. Entertainment was provided by One Beautiful World, Inc and Mathew. It was a wonderful visit for The Holiday Project and we thank OBW for celebrating it with us.
“We really had fun. The music was wonderful, the kids had red, white and blue tissue paper flowers and cards to hand out, and flags to wave. The residents really responded to the music, and, according to the facility's administration, Mr. Sabatella pulled and held a bigger audience than had been seen before.”
The music accompanying the pictures is Matthew Sabatella's version of "Skip to my Lou," one of the songs he performed today. See Video
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