#Giving Tuesday is an annual day of giving that occurs on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past seven years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
This #GivingTuesday The Wesley Foundation raised funds that will help to meet the social, emotional and health needs of our long-term care residents through technology. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented never-before-experienced challenges to our ability to provide services to our residents and community. We closed our doors to visitors and social activities, and outings for residents were cancelled to keep residents safe from the pandemic. To address the lack of visitors, we immediately implemented virtual visits where our Life Enrichment Team assists our Wesley Health Care Center Residents with video calls with their families. This has been very successful, but we have been limited by the number of iPads available.
Our goal is to purchase additional iPads for each floor, to allow for residents to continue to be able to virtually visit with their loved ones, as well as “smart” televisions for the dining rooms. This will enable our activities team to reinstitute small group activities without the residents having to leave the floors and while maintaining appropriate social distancing.
Activities we plan to add or expand virtually include:
- Religious services
- Music performances
- Holiday themed performances, movies, games
- Educational seminars
- Trivia games and bingo
- Interactive learning through engaging apps and games
Thank you to those who made a #GivingTuesday donation!
A special thanks to Saratoga.com and Mannix Marketing for their support of our 2020 #GivingTuesday campaign. Their continued support has helped to raise awareness and support of our Virtual Enrichment Initiatives for The Wesley Community. Thank you!
