Bonding Through Intergenerational Activities

Quality time with multiple generations is beneficial for families. When children and young adults spend time with older adults and seniors, it can create a sense of bonding that strengthens families and provides benefits for both parties.

For children, intergeneration activities help build self-esteem, social skills, and happier, healthier attitudes about the future and aging adults. They gain the opportunity to hear stories from the elders in their family and gather wisdom beyond their years.

For seniors, these intergenerational activities create a sense of joy and fulfillment. Spending time with their children and grandchildren helps promote mental health and helps strengthen the body.

September is Intergenerational Month and it is a great time to begin to think about different activities that families can do together to strengthen intergenerational bonding.

Cooking

Cooking is a great way to bond with your loved ones. Discover a new recipe or share an old family recipe. By using cooking to bond, children gain new skills and older adults get the opportunity to continue to teach those younger.

Experience the Community

Every community is unique and has gems. By discovering these together, it creates memories for both the young and older. Visit the local library, take a class, go to a show (even a high school play!).

Music

Music is a timeless way to bond generations. Sharing music allows the younger generation to experience things that the older generation treasures. The experiences that we have with music transcends generations. Listening to songs that each one likes or playing instruments together is the perfect intergenerational activity.

Conversation

Sharing stories is important in bonding. The older generation gets the opportunity to share stories about their childhood and the things that they hold dear. These stories are great ways to capture memories as older ones may pass on.

At National Church Residences, we promote intergenerational activities with our seniors by partnering with the community and through our adult day programs. If you’d like to volunteer and get involved with our seniors, visit our website for more information.

 

We want you to be a part of the National Church Residences mission. Feel free to leave a comment, suggest a topic, ask a question, or send an email to communications@nationalchurchresidences.org.

 

Join Us For Mission Day!

At National Church Residences, our mission is to provide high-quality care, services, and residential communities for all seniors. We are motivated by four core values, one of which is mission: “We are driven by a deep sense that our work should serve God and always produce good for others.” This is why Mission Day is so important to our organization.

Although Mission Day is an event, it is a daily attitude motivated by the culture of National Church Residences. Mission Day benefits the residents of National Church Residences by creating fundraising events and service opportunities. Residents, employees, local businesses and the community all participate in Mission Day, whether through attending events at National Church Residences properties or by serving the community through service projects.

From Detroit to Atlanta and from Columbus to Sacramento, Mission Day fundraising over the past 22 years has made life better for residents in National Church Residences communities – purchasing vans with wheelchair lifts to transport residents where they need to go, adding fitness equipment to keep seniors well, providing workshops and other programming for our residents and much more.

We want you to partner with us and support Mission Day. There are several ways to join us:

Participate in Mission Day activities at your local National Church Residences community

Contact the property manager at your local National Church Residences community and ask about their Mission Day activities. We currently have over 60 properties participating in Mission Day. Although festivities will vary by property, get out to enjoy a variety of fun activities such as games, contests, bake sales, giveaways and more.

Help supply a need for a community by donating to Mission Day 

You can give directly to the Mission Day fundraising campaign. All contributions support the mission and produce good for the residents. Your gift will make a difference in a community by helping to provide activities and things that enhance their experience. Donate online, or you can mail your payment to National Church Residences Attn: Foundation, 2335 North Bank, Columbus Ohio 43220. Anything you donate helps our seniors remain happy and healthy.

Invite your friends, family, and colleagues to produce good for others by creating a fundraising campaign

Invite others to do good with you! When you are passionate about the mission like we are, you’ll want to share it with as many people as possible. Crowdfunding allows you to do just that. Creating a crowdfunding campaign enables your goodwill to multiply by your bringing your circle of family, friends, and colleagues into the mission. Set up your page here and spread it like wildfire!

Share the Mission Day campaign link through an email, text message, or on your social media

Maybe you’re not in a place where you can donate or visit a local community. You can still be a part of and support the mission!  Share this post or the Mission Day campaign link with your friends, family, and colleagues in an email, a text or on your Facebook page. The more people who know about the mission, the more we have an opportunity to support the residents.

Mission Day is an integral part of what we do at National Church Residences. We couldn’t do everything we do without your support. Join us in our mission to keep seniors home for life. Become a part of Mission Day! 

We want you to be a part of the National Church Residences mission. Feel free to leave a comment, suggest a topic, ask a question, or send an email to communications@nationalchurchresidences.org.

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month

As an organization that values service unto others, National Church Residences takes pride in our volunteers by recognizing them for their hard work. April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we will celebrate volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service to our mission. Volunteers who have served more than 100, 500 and 1,000 hours will be recognized with award ribbons.

Those who have served 4,000 hours or more will be honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award which is issued from the President of the United States of America. Finally, two individuals will be recognized as volunteer of the year based on nominations from staff that see their service as deserving of this award. All nominees will receive a congratulatory letter regarding their nomination. Volunteers receiving service recognition must be registered as a National Church Residences volunteer and record of their service hours on file.

National Church Residences has a new partner for finding volunteers. We will work with VolunteerMatch to assist site staff in the recruitment of new volunteers. VolunteerMatch is a web-based tool that allows organizations, such as National Church Residences, to be more efficient and effective at involving new volunteers who otherwise may not know of an organizations’ volunteer needs. The use of VolunteerMatch is a way to increase community involvement and benefit National Church Residences residents and communities.

Director of Volunteer Services Stacey Kyser shared, “Sixty-four million Americans volunteer on an annual basis so there is no shortage of those willing to serve in our country. VolunteerMatch is a tool to assist us in getting the right people at the right community in the right volunteer role and providing them with the opportunity to engage with our residents and produce positive outcomes.”

For more information on the Volunteer Program and ways to get volunteers involved in your community, please contact Stacey at volunteers@nationalchurchresidences.org. You can also learn more about volunteer opportunities at http://www.volunteermatch.org.