Adopt a Grandparent gift project in Monroe area needs help
Three years ago, Shellie Ray adopted her first grandparents for Christmas.
Since then, she formed the organization Ray 4 Hope and has expanded the adoption program. Last year, she gifted a record number of grandparents, gave out Easter baskets, and her organization was granted 501C3 non-profit status.
This year, Ray, a local mother of three, hopes to continue adopting grandparents, but donations are low.
“It’s much slower than last year, and we could use some help,” said Ray. “Last year we adopted almost 400 grandparents. We haven’t even filled up one nursing home yet. We adopt one nursing home at a time. Each has an average of 80 (residents). We would like to help more people."
Ray is seeking assistance for area residents and businesses.
Cash donations are requested by Dec. 20 and can be made through her organization's website, ray4hope.com. A donation of $30 provides gifts for one grandparent in a local nursing home.
Ray prefers cash, not gift items, so grandparents all receive similar gifts. She also lacks storage space for donated gifts and finds it cheaper to purchase items in bulk.
Funds are used to buy things like crayons and coloring books, candy, calendars, crossword puzzle books, lip balm, pens and tic-tac-toe games. Reading glasses were given in the past.
“Gifts depend of what nursing homes request. I contact nursing homes to see what they need or want,” said Ray. “Nursing homes said they had plenty of glasses, so we replaced those with socks. One nursing home requested nice tissues. For some grandmas, we give makeup or purses. For those with disabilities, we buy different things. We might replace puzzles with lotion.”
One Christmas staple is blankets.
“We get fuzzy blankets, really nice ones from T.J. Maxx,” said Ray.
Whenever possible, she likes to support local businesses.
Last year, Deb Staelgraeve of Deb’s Flowers and Gifts gave poinsettias to one nursing home. That may continue this year. Ray also hopes to get Christmas cookies from a local bakery.
All gifts are wrapped.
“It’s nostalgic for the older generation. We make it as special as we can,” said Ray.
On Christmas morning, she and her family hand-deliver the gifts to the nursing homes.
Ray was inspired to start Ray 4 Hope in 2019, after the death of her mother, Mary Balutis. Her mother was briefly a resident of Medilodge, where Ray noticed some residents had few visitors and were forgotten during the holidays. Last year, in addition to Christmas gifts, Ray 4 Hope provided Easter baskets to senior citizens at Medilodge; Ray hopes to provide baskets again this year.
Nursing homes and the grandparents are grateful for the gifts, she said.
“Nursing home staff are excited and they are hopeful we can do this,” she said. “The grandparents are super happy, a lot of them cry. It takes a lot of pressure of the staff to provide gifts. We are not just helping the grandparents, but helping the staff too.”
On the Net: ray4hope.com
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Adopt a Grandparent gift project in Monroe area needs help
