On Wednesday, December 18, lively chatter filled the Lakeside Beikirch Care Center lobby, as over a dozen people waited to unload Christmas gifts from the truck outside. The visitors, many in Santa hats, came from The College at Brockport to present each of the 114 residents a gift they had asked for. They were part of the Brockport Auxiliary Services Corporation (BASC) which contracts with the college to provide all food services, the bookstore, parking services other support. Fourteen staff members and two administrators were helping with the Beikirch event.
Merriment and military precision
Beikirch staff arrived in the lobby with carts to help these Santas bring the presents to the three floors of the residence. Boxes of presents with residents’ names and room numbers streamed from the truck into the lobby and were immediately placed on carts for their designated floor. Soon, a train of gift-laden carts lined up at the elevators. Several BASC staff went to each floor with a Beikirch staff member and the gifts were given to each resident personally.
Betty Drennen was the heart and mind behind the event, working with Beikirch’s recreation director Nancy Duff. Drennen is the executive administrative assistant for BASC, and has been with the college for 44 years. “We connected with Beikirch months ago,” Drennen said, “and with their help we found an item that each resident would like.” She sent the wish list to all BASC operations. “Any employee from student to management could adopt a resident and buy the item that was on the ticket,” she said. “A week and a half later all the residents were all adopted. I was flabbergasted.” Gifts included sweaters, fleece blankets, bath lotion sets, crafts sets, books, CDs. There was over $310 donated in cash, spent in part on a fresh flower for each resident. Each gift was tagged and gift bagged for ease of opening.
Motivation
Drennen’s motivation was very personal. “My mom and dad (now deceased) were at Beikirch in rehab, and I lost an uncle in a nursing home,” she said. “I came to realize how many elderly people over the holidays don’t have anyone.” Last year, in memory of her mom and dad, Drennen worked with Nancy Duff to adopt four Beikirch residents to receive gifts.“This year, I thought about something bigger,” she said about the day’s project. “I like to think each and every one of these residents has contributed a lifetime to their family and the community, and this seemed like a nice way for us to give something back to them.”
Magic moments
Drennen reflected on vignettes from the morning. “On one floor our staff came out and was in tears because the resident in the room wanted them to sing Jingle Bells, which they did. On another floor a lady came out of her room wearing a new Christmas sweater and said, ‘Look at this. I didn’t think it was going to fit me” (but it did). Another lady asked me where I got my Santa hat. She really liked it, so I gave it to her. She was all excited because she would go shopping with it tomorrow. A lady on fourth floor opened a gift blanket and hugged it. It melted my heart.”
Mutual support and appreciation
“I congratulate Betty Drennen for such a fine idea and for leading her group, seeing it through to the end,” Nancy Duff said. “They were extremely organized and displayed such compassion and support to the residents in purchasing personal presents and fresh flowers for every resident, plus taking the time to personally hand them out. If that wasn’t enough, they made trays of homemade cookies for our staff.”
“We had a lot of communication to keep things coordinated,” Drennen said about working with Duff. “She and her staff were very organized. It has been true joy to work with them and see them so appreciative. It has been very fulfilling personally for me.”
Kimberly Cisco, Beikirch’s administrator, helped during the gift giving. “Holidays are a difficult time for a lot of people,” she said, “especially residents who live in long term care facilities. The look on each resident’s face as they were given a gift is just too difficult to describe, what joy they had.” She added, “This was a wonderful event. Betty’s team was so organized and caring in the way they did it, and so excited. We are deeply grateful.”
Photos by Dianne Hickerson
