Volunteers from L.O.V.E chant what is written on their message boards for the residents inside the Central Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Syracuse. | Cherilyn Beckles, Staff Photo

Local Students Bring L.O.V.E. to Seniors

June 9, 2020 140 Views

Syracuse Expeditionary Learning Middle School student Samaia Goodrich along with other area teen volunteers showed their L.O.V.E. to the residents of the Central Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Syracuse Tuesday afternoon.

Samaia Goodrich

The middle and high schoolers delivered personalized, handwritten postcards to the center’s residents, letting them know they are not alone and are loved during this difficult time. The center has had to restrict visitors during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Visitors inside the center will continue to be restricted until the virus had been eradicated from the Syracuse community.

Inspired to help counteract the loneliness and despair that many older adults experience during the quarantine, Goodrich developed the L.O.V.E (Let Our Voices Echo) Letter Project. The campaign encourages students to distribute L.O.V.E. postcards to nursing homes and retirement facilities in their communities.

Volunteers place their hands on a resident’s window that reads “Window High Five.” | Cherilyn Beckles, Staff Photo
Students walk by the residents’ windows holding signs with kind words.| Cherilyn Beckles, Staff Photo
Group photo of L.O.V.E. (Let Our Voices Echo) volunteers Tuesday, June 9, outside the Central Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Syracuse’s South Side. | Cherilyn Beckles, Staff Photo
Samaia Goodrich and two other volunteers wave goodbye after greeting residents from their windows. | Cherilyn Beckles, Staff Photo

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