THUNDER BAY — Some of Thunder Bay's older residents have paired up with a group of its youngest citizens to share the spirit of Christmas.
Through several initiatives over the past few months, people living at the Chartwell Glacier Ridge retirement residence on Jasper Drive had already established a relationship with students of St. Ann Elementary School on Georgina Avenue.
Kaitlynn Hynnes, the lifestyle and programs manager at the retirement home, says intergenerational programming has been demonstrated to be an effective way to foster happiness among seniors.
This month, residents of Glacier Ridge made reindeer Christmas "candy grams" for St. Ann's grades one and two students.
In return, the children made personalized candy cane grams for the seniors, and put together a Christmas video to show the residents.
The school has posted photos of the youngsters involved in the project on its Facebook page.
Hynnes said about a dozen residents of the home participated.
She noted that research has shown that retirees get a lot of satisfaction from having a chance to give back to the community in this way.
As for the children, they "just really enjoy learning about the residents. It gives them a sense of pride" to participate, Hynnes said..
All items that are exchanged by the two groups will sit for 72 hours prior to delivery to ensure that COVID protocols are followed.
