McHenry County seniors get gifts through adopt-a-grandparent program: ‘This is what our community is about’

When she was younger, Sharon Saunders’ dad always got her mom a poinsettia at Christmastime.

So when she saw the bright red flower sitting on top of a number of other gifts Saunders received through the Fisher Outreach Group’s adopt-a-grandparent program, she was happy.

“My parents have been gone for a long time,” said Saunders, a resident of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois’ Gable Point location in Crystal Lake. “It just means a lot to me.”

Fisher Outreach Group Inc., a Crystal Lake nonprofit, has hosted holiday gift programs for children in the past, but this year, it decided to concentrate on seniors.

The adopt-a-grandparent program focused on residents of Fair Oaks in Crystal Lake, Gable Point Senior Housing and Crystal Pines in Crystal Lake, as well as older adults identified by Senior Services Associates and senior veterans throughout McHenry County.

Seniors participating in the program filled out a list of six to 10 items they either wanted or needed, which community members could then go on Amazon and buy for them, Fisher Outreach Group Director Jacci Richards said.

“It ranged from everything from reading glasses to shower chairs to walkers,” Richards said. “It was a span of everything that you could possibly imagine.”

Altogether, 468 seniors were “adopted” and received gifts, Richards said.

On Wednesday, residents at Gable Point were presented with some of the gifts they asked for during an event in its community room. For some residents, this was one of their first times gathering with others since the COVID-19 pandemic began and assisted and senior living facilities faced social distancing restrictions on activities and congregating.

Besides the poinsettias, Saunders asked as part of her wish list for someone to help fix her recliner. Richards’ husband tried but was unable to fix it, so they bought her a new chair.

“It’s jaw-dropping,” Saunders said. “It’s nice to know that there are generous, kind people in this world.”

“That’s why we do this,” Richards said. “We want to be able to touch people.”

Richards decided to pivot to focusing on seniors for this year’s holiday program to honor her parents, who died before the COVID-19 pandemic.

After losing them unexpectedly, Richards said, “it’s nice to have other grandparents that we can do something nice for.”

Chris Walsh, a resident at Gable Point for two years, said Wednesday’s event made her feel “so loved.”

“I’m overwhelmed,” Walsh said. “The people here are so kind, so helpful.”

Walsh doesn’t always get to see her neighbors. She’s had some health issues, so most of the time, she said, she stays in her apartment except when she goes to doctor’s appointments or out with her son.

This can get a little disheartening, Walsh said, though her faith in God helped her through it.

Looking at a tin of cookies she received along with her other gifts on Wednesday, Walsh said, “this is wonderful.”

“This is what our community is about,” she said.

To keep people safe amid high COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County, Richards said, Fisher Outreach Group didn’t work with its usual team of 30 to 50 volunteers.

“We had to be safe and smart,” Richards said, adding that they also made sure to check people’s temperature and vaccination status.

Richards said she’s grateful organizers of the event were able to make arrangements to do the program safely.

“They were so happy to see each other and to feel normal even for an hour,” she said.

A few people from Campion Curran Law in Crystal Lake, where Richards works as a business administrator, came to help with Wednesday’s festivities.

For the last two months, the Campion Curran team helped organize the event, Richards said.

“It’s been an amazing team effort,” she said.

Gable Point resident Sai Chin was pleasantly surprised by all the items she got. Poring through her bounty, which included slippers, a backpack and a blanket, Chin said she thought was going to get one or two items off her Christmas wish list. Instead, she received about eight or nine.

“That was very nice of them,” Chin said. “I really appreciate the group that did this for us.”

Thinking about the amount the community gave for adopt-a-grandparent rendered Richard speechless, she said.

“I wasn’t sure how well-received shifting to our local seniors would be, and I’m absolutely blown away at the community’s response. It’s been magnificent,” she said. “Without the community backing us and helping with this program, we would not have been able to make this happen.”

Because of the program’s success, Richards said, she hopes to make it a year-round affair, where facilities can reach out if they have a resident in need who moves in.