Kaiser Santa Cruz MLK Day project brings joy to isolated seniors

Hundreds of isolated senior citizens in Santa Cruz County will be getting a little extra joy come Valentine’s Day, thanks to more than 50 volunteers who volunteered as part of Kaiser Permanente’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

Volunteers and their children made Valentine’s Day cards for the seniors, which will be included in their Meals on Wheels deliveries during the Valentine’s week.

“Typically, our Day of Service includes painting or fixing up a school, something that gets us all outdoors together, ” said William MacLean, MD, physician in charge of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Cruz County area. “But with the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to keep everyone safe and found a project they could do from the comfort of their homes.”

Kaiser Permanente partnered with the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County on the project.

“So many seniors are struggling with isolation and the pandemic,” said Trēa Robinson, a Director at the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County. “I can’t think of a better project for Kaiser Permanente to organize on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.”

She said since opening in Santa Cruz County, Kaiser Permanente has been deeply involved in community volunteer projects.

After a virtual meeting including city and county officials and Kaiser Permanente leaders, volunteers and their families set to work creating the cards. Photographs showed children sprawled on their living room floors surrounded by boxes of crayons and markers and colorful paper.

On some of the cards, children wrote “We are thinking of you,” “You Mean the World to Us,” or “We love you a lot,” -- phrases that will be very special to the isolated seniors who receive the cards.

"My elderly dad would receive cards like these," Dr. MacLean said. "Although he had family nearby that would visit often, these Valentine cards would bring him such joy. It was great to see."