By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
It was a social media post that gave Jessica Hames the idea for a project to get Sitka seniors some Valentine’s Day love.
“A friend of mine sent me a video on Instagram of an elderly lady in a long-term care facility and somebody gave her a stuffed animal and she was over the moon about it,” Hames told the Sentinel. “At the end of the video she said, ‘You just see how much we miss loving somebody.’”
Hames calls her project Sitka Senior Love. For starters, it will give every resident at Sitka Long-Term Care and the Pioneers Home a stuffed animal.
Jessica Hames with her sons, Clark, age 1, and Henry, 3, pose with boxes of stuffed toy animals, potted plants and other items today in her home. Hames will be distributing the donated items to seniors living in the Pioneers Home and Sitka Long-Term Care facility for Valentine’s Day. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Residents will also receive African violets donated by the Chocolate Moose, and puzzles and games from True Value. Hames said the American Legion also donated to the project, and the seniors will receive handwritten notes from Girl Scout Eir Christianson.
The project took off with the help of Facebook group Sitka Chatters, after Hames posted a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the stuffed animals. She said it took only a few days to reach the target for the donations.
The Sitka Chatters post also put Hames in touch with ten-year-old Eir Christianson, who started making valentines on Saturday. Eir said she’s made about 40 so far, and plans to have the cards done in plenty of time for handing out to seniors on Sunday.
She enjoys making the cards so much that it’s hard to stop, she said.
“I just kept going and going and going, and I had to go to bed,” she said.
Hames said none of this would have been possible without help from her in-laws, Roger and Mary Hames.
“They helped me navigate all the hurdles,” Hames said. “I had this idea and I brought it by (Mary) and she thought it was great. They let me contact their manager at Silver Basin to order the stuffed animals (and) they covered the up-front cost.”
She said that her in-laws also helped out with shipping, when the stuffed animals got stuck in Seattle.
“My father-in-law happened to be in Seattle,” Hames said. “He picked them up from AML, (and) it was Mary’s idea to contact Alaska Airlines – she gave me the contact there.”
The animals arrived in Sitka Thursday evening and Hames sorted them this afternoon in preparation for distribution on Sunday.
And even with help from Roger and Mary, it’s Jessica who coordinated the whole thing.
“It’s funny because I can’t seem to muster the energy to text people back and I didn’t mail my Christmas cards this year, but I somehow figured this out,” she said.
Those interested in contributing more gifts – no food or candy, please – can meet Hames outside the Pioneers Home at 1 p. m. Sunday, Feb. 14.
