Small Acts of Service Make a Big Difference
Kara SchofieldFeatured Photo: Prosper Texas Stake Youth Conference distribution squad makes a delivery to Saddle Brook Memory Care Community. Photo by Kadi Heath.
Prosper, Texas— Prosper-area congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered much-needed supplies to Saddle Brook Memory Care Community in Frisco on Good Friday, April 2, 2021. Produced by 300 teenagers of the Church of Jesus Christ as part of an annual youth conference, the donation included musical therapy tools, comfort items, and Easter cards.
Recalling her weekly visits to Saddle Brook prior to the pandemic, youth leader Angela Johnson thought of the care center when planning the 2021 youth service project. “My thoughts immediately turned to the residents at Saddle Brook. My son Clayton and I used to visit a resident there twice a week for about two years. I always loved the feeling that I had when we went there. The staff was so full of love for the residents.“
Recognizing the need for these care center residents to be remembered in a year of almost complete isolation from visitors as part of the ongoing Covid-19 safety measures, Johnson worked with Active Living Director Jennifer (JJ) Dunn to determine current needs.
Johnson continued, “Many times when I was there, a musical therapist would come into the room of the resident that I was visiting. [The resident] would light up when she heard the guitar being played and the person singing. Sometimes she would get to hold shakers or some sort of noisemaker. She always enjoyed that.” Johnson’s personal interactions with the residents helped inform the leaders’ supply decisions as they planned how the teens could contribute.
On the day of the service project, each youth, ages 14 to 18, reported to assigned assembly stations. They wrote and decorated 40 greeting cards, assembled over 250 egg-shaped maraca shakers and pool noodle balloon boppers, decorated 45 reusable mealtime bibs, and tied fringe borders on 40 fleece blankets to bring smiles, warmth, and comfort to the 20 men and 20 women living at the care center.
“It’s awesome to be able to help people, even if it’s small,” said Ena Riches, a freshman attending Lone Star High School. “The little things count. My great-grandpa had Alzheimer’s, and I remember that when I was small, he once gave me a blanket to warm me up. Now I can do that for someone else; it’s an anonymous little gift.”
Joel Mann, a freshman in the Frisco 8th Ward congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ, added, “It was nice being able to serve other people, and it was fun doing it with this group of friends. We put our heads together to design the card. Helping people who aren’t able to help themselves as much is a good thing to do.”
In following the example of Jesus Christ and meeting some immediate needs within their communities, these teenagers experienced firsthand the 2021 youth theme of the global Church of Jesus Christ, “A Great Work,” which invites them to serve others diligently, to share their hearts and willing minds, and to know that the little things really do count.
Saddle Brook Memory Care in Frisco services those living with a form of dementia, Alzheimer’s, or memory loss. Part of the Koelsch Communities network for nearly 3000 residents across eight states, Saddle Brook exemplifies the Koelsch family philosophy to provide excellent care and “to serve our residents with respect, dignity, and compassion.”
This story was published in the Prosper Press.
