LEE COUNTY

Cards bring smiles to long-term care facility residents

As part of a class assignment, Florida Gulf Coast University students had to write cards that were delivered to long-term care facilities across Southwest Florida.Nearly 500 cards filled with messages of hope went out to brighten the day of our most vulnerable population who are truly in isolation.“One of the cards says, ‘Be kind and believe,'” said Teri Krug, a resident at Brookdale Fort Myers Cypress Lake.

For Krug and fellow resident Liz Beck, the cards were just what they needed to lift their spirits.“It was nice to know someone else is thinking of us,” Krug said.

“It’s really kind of hard sometimes to look at this in a positive way when you see a lot of things happening around you that may not be so positive,” Beck said.Many of the cards were constructed by FGCU students.

“I thought about my grandmother and my grandfather,” said FGCU students Maria Roversi. “It made me happy and seeing the video of them receiving those letters even brought you a little sense of satisfaction.”

The assignment was for FGCU’s “The Kindness Effect” class.

“This class is learning about kindness in real-time. Kindness helps ease anxiety, it helps ease depression. It’s a win-win. When you’re kind, you get some chemicals in your brain that help you feel better,” said Francesca Donlan, FGCU adjunct professor.

Healthy Lee recently launched “Kids With Compassion,” a program that allows you to send a virtual card or piece of artwork to people in long-term care facilities.