Thoughts on Valentine's Day cookie decorating event
- Thread starter marilynfl
- Start date
mariadnoca
Moderator
And you are 100% funding this and doing it for their facility for free.
Hope it turned out as best as it could, given the tough location and
Bravo for keeping your cool..... Retracting dippy after reading your account of the day below. 
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well...it's done. It went smoothly and everyone appeared happy.
And I had to acknowledge my control issues and address them there.
I volunteered for, then planned this event and wanted it to go the way I planned. But life doesn't always go that way, especially when dealing with a group of elderly citizens.
First off, my three zone idea
Then the residents started arriving, all either using a walker or in a wheelchair and suddenly, none of my plans mattered. Heather had been right to set up the tables so the residents could stay in one spot and enjoy the event. I wasn't considering their needs, while she had. I turned into the facilitator I had volunteered to be.
Two adult children of residents had also volunteered to help, so each of us (including Heather) managed a table of four. I noticed how difficult it was for some of the residents to even squeeze the Royal icing bottle so we volunteers took over that and left the residents to add the decorations. Each resident worked on a dinner tray and had a plate with their name on it. As they finished each cookies, they placed it on their plate and Heather planned to deliver them the next day after all the icing had hardened.
I had made chocolate-coated strawberries they all seemed to enjoy, although it felt like I should have filled them with U-100 dose of insulin. Heather said they’ll keep a insulin check on them. Michelle (one of the volunteer daughters) said at first she was concerned about the sweets, but said she wasn’t sure how many more days her Mom could enjoy something like that, so she was glad to see her so happy.
I noticed some residents were getting tired after 2 or 3 cookies, and I had made 9 treats per person. So I told Heather we had plenty if others wanted to join in. I mentioned this because other residents had walked/rolled/wheel-chaired over to our area and asked what we were doing. So the "firm 16 people" ended up as 22 residents participating.
When I arrived at the facility, Heather said she was cleared to pay me for my time and supplies. But it felt weird by this time since the issue had never been discussed, so I told her it was all my donation.
Three hours (and 22 plates of cookies) later, she tried again to pay me—this time I think to get me to come back. She seemed quite happy with the event, so I'm glad. Just not sure I'd do it again.
Oh...and I was THE ONLY ONE wearing a mask.
And I had to acknowledge my control issues and address them there.
I volunteered for, then planned this event and wanted it to go the way I planned. But life doesn't always go that way, especially when dealing with a group of elderly citizens.
First off, my three zone idea
- dipping cake pops,
- icing and decorating cookies,
- drawing on iced cookies with edible pens
Then the residents started arriving, all either using a walker or in a wheelchair and suddenly, none of my plans mattered. Heather had been right to set up the tables so the residents could stay in one spot and enjoy the event. I wasn't considering their needs, while she had. I turned into the facilitator I had volunteered to be.
Two adult children of residents had also volunteered to help, so each of us (including Heather) managed a table of four. I noticed how difficult it was for some of the residents to even squeeze the Royal icing bottle so we volunteers took over that and left the residents to add the decorations. Each resident worked on a dinner tray and had a plate with their name on it. As they finished each cookies, they placed it on their plate and Heather planned to deliver them the next day after all the icing had hardened.
I had made chocolate-coated strawberries they all seemed to enjoy, although it felt like I should have filled them with U-100 dose of insulin. Heather said they’ll keep a insulin check on them. Michelle (one of the volunteer daughters) said at first she was concerned about the sweets, but said she wasn’t sure how many more days her Mom could enjoy something like that, so she was glad to see her so happy.
I noticed some residents were getting tired after 2 or 3 cookies, and I had made 9 treats per person. So I told Heather we had plenty if others wanted to join in. I mentioned this because other residents had walked/rolled/wheel-chaired over to our area and asked what we were doing. So the "firm 16 people" ended up as 22 residents participating.
When I arrived at the facility, Heather said she was cleared to pay me for my time and supplies. But it felt weird by this time since the issue had never been discussed, so I told her it was all my donation.
Three hours (and 22 plates of cookies) later, she tried again to pay me—this time I think to get me to come back. She seemed quite happy with the event, so I'm glad. Just not sure I'd do it again.
Oh...and I was THE ONLY ONE wearing a mask.
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mariadnoca
Moderator
Sounds like everything turned out great in the end. It all sounds and looks lovely. 
Marilyn - what a feat! I'm sure you had 22 delighted residents! And you pivoted beautifully. From my experience with nursing homes/assisted living (versus independent) you never know who (literally) is coming to the table. You really made a difference in their day (and for days to come as they eat their goodies).