Young @ Heart

Trying to take a part in the community, the club Young at Heart at the University of Kentucky has been working with nursing homes in Lexington for several years, and every member who has been a Friendly Visitor—a person who has spent one or two hours per week to talk to the nursing home residents—report that the elders there were great and happy to have UK students come and talk to them.   Thus, this is a great way for students to get involved with the elderly.  Besides the Friendly Visitor program, there are also other activities that the club provides to help students to get involved with the elderly.  One of the activities that the Young at Heart has done is the “Make-A-Wreath” campaign in which the members spend time to decorate the wreaths then give them to elders in nursing homes who rarely have visitors.  Additionally, the club tries to celebrate Christmas with these elders by conducting parties and games, and giving them small gifts.  In short, the purpose of the club is to raise an awareness of how elders live in nursing homes and how to help them get through their problems.