Get Involved16 Feb 2011 11:11 amJoin Us in Delivering Random Acts of Kindness to Seniors #RAKsr
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UPDATE: 2/11: Join us for our second annual celebration of Random Acts of Kindness Week. To commemorate the week’s festivities, we’re relaunched our #RAKsr initiative. See below for more details!
February 14-20 is Random Acts of Kindness Week — a reminder for each of us to do something nice, and unexpected, for someone else.
What random kindness can you bestow on a senior?
Whether it’s helping with manual labor around the house – spending an afternoon just chatting and catching up — cooking dinner together — or going to the movies, we want to hear about it.
SeniorsforLiving.com is on the hunt: Who will join us in delivering random acts of kindness to seniors next week? Here are just a few thoughtful ideas to help you get started.
We’re encouraging as many people as possible to participate. But, performing an act of kindness is just one step. Here are some other ways you can get involved:
- Leave us a blog comment sharing your experience.
- Are you a blogger? If so, write about about Random Act of Kindness Week, and encourage your readers to do something nice for a senior.
- Tell your Facebook friends about this project and ask them to get involved
- Share random acts on Twitter using the hashtag #RAKsr
- Post video to YouTube or photos on Flickr using the #RAKsr tag
We’ll post some of the best stories throughout the week on our Facebook page. Make sure you’re a fan so you can keep track of all the kindness.
An added bonus: SeniorsforLiving.com Facebook fans who participate in this project will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift certificate.
To be entered into the drawing, fans simply need to email their stories to connect@seniorsforliving.com before February 20 at 10 a.m. EST. We’ll announce the winner on Tuesday 2/22/11.
Let’s see how much out-of-the-blue kindness we can deliver in one week.
The comments are yours: How will you show kindness to that special senior in your life?
*2/22/10: WINNER UPDATE: Congratulations and thank you to Mike Gamble of Aging Parents and Eldercare who is the winner of our random #RAKsr drawing for a $50 Amazon gift certificate. And a big thank-you to all of you who shared news of #RAKsr, performed amazingly generous acts of kindness, and — in short — spread love and expanded the everyday boundaries of the heart. We were touched numerous times a day all last week by your fabulously unselfish acts, thoughts, and sentiments. Let’s keep the KINDNESS going….
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11 Responses
- Kaye Swain Says:
after publication. }--> February 10th, 2010 at 11:23 amThat’s so sweet – and perfect timing with Valentine’s Day. I’ll definitely help spread the word
- Carin Arrigo-Zimmer Says:
after publication. }--> February 10th, 2010 at 1:18 pmThis is wonderful! So happy to find you guys! Definitely a fan of helping seniors… =)
- Kathy Cox Says:
after publication. }--> February 10th, 2010 at 7:41 pmThis is what the world needs more of! Kindness needs to be shared with everyone–what a difference a smile makes.
- Make a Difference in a Senior’s Life! Says:
after publication. }--> February 12th, 2010 at 5:57 pm[...] about Random Acts of Kindness Week. They’re heading up an outstanding movement to generate random acts of kindness for seniors. How beautiful is that?!?! Read their suggestions and jump in with both feet and a full [...]
- Happy Valentine’s Day to the Sandwich Generation | SandwichINK.com Says:
after publication. }--> February 14th, 2010 at 11:14 am[...] Kindness Week. Seniors for Living has made it even more specific, using it to remind us to put into practice Random Acts of Kindness for one or more of the Senior Citizens in our lives. For those of us in [...]
- Kaye Swain Says:
after publication. }--> February 14th, 2010 at 5:03 pmHey hey hey – Happy Valentine’s Day!
Have a wonderful week!
- Kaye Swain Says:
after publication. }--> February 15th, 2010 at 12:01 pmAaaaahh – sorry for the mega oops – and Happy Random ACTS of Kindness Week.
- Carissa Says:
after publication. }--> February 15th, 2010 at 1:16 pmI have a neighbor couple who are seniors and we’d love to surprise them with something unexpectedly random this week.. I’ll let you know what we come up with!
- Dale Carter Says:
after publication. }--> February 18th, 2010 at 12:36 pmYesterday I was in the grocery store, waiting in produce behind an elderly woman who was picking out yams. I got my plastic bag and just waited patiently behind her. When she finished, she turned and apologized for taking so long, and I said “no problem at all”. Then, she kind of mumbled to herself, “where do I get a bag?” I just reached out my open bag and said, “take this”. The look in her eyes was priceless; such a small gesture but it meant so much to her. I won’t forget that sweet lady anytime soon!
- Kaye Swain Says:
after publication. }--> February 19th, 2010 at 11:00 amAwesome, Dale! Great example!
- Kaye Swain Says:
after publication. }--> February 23rd, 2010 at 12:42 amMega Congrats Mike!!!
Leave a Comment
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Join Us in Delivering Random Acts of Kindness to Seniors #RAKsr | Seniors For Living
Why did you take the hospice volunteer training online course?
I have a passion and extreme support of hospice care. My career goal is to work for Hospice, as I currently hold my BSW and I am pursuing my masters. I feel Hospice is a very positive thing and that the community should be educated on it and the amazing things Hospice offers.
A.E.
I love getting the submission on the final essays of the training site for hospice volunteers.
Every time I read the essays by "students" of the course, my goals are clearer and my passion for hospice is strengthened by every entry.
Become a hospice volunteer. Ask your local hospice if they use the hospice volunteer training online program. If not, you can begin the training at http://volunteertrainingonline.com/courses
Congratulations Hospice of the Valley
Allow me to brag a little bit. I work for an amazing hospice agency. We provide top notch care in a very diverse and populated county. I'm extremely fond of all my co-workers (no, really! I mean it!) and we really work together as a team to provide our patients with the highest quality of care. Part of that is due to excellent leadership and two of Hospice of the Valley's leaders were recently nationally recognized.
Sally Adelus, President and CEO of Hospice of the Valley in Santa Clara County, was named to the Board of Director's of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in January. Adelus will represent the West Geographic Area which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming and will serve a three-year term: January 2011-December 2013.
"Sally's previous experience on NHPCO's Governance Committee and her leadership as Past Chair of the California Hospice Foundation and the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association will serve her well," said J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD, President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. "Sally has a solid foundation and keen insight into the trends and changing dynamics facing our industry."
"I am truly honored to serve on the NHPCO Board of Directors and represent our geographic area membership," said Sally Adelus, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hospice of the Valley, San Jose CA. "I look forward to representing the voting members and bringing my expertise to the Board in support NHPCO's altruistic mission. Ultimately, it's all about patients and families and the preservation of quality palliative and hospice care," affirmed Adelus.
Dr. Neal Slatkin, Chief Medical Officer at Hospice of the Valley in Santa Clara County, was recognized by Castle Connelly as one of America's Top Doctors in Cancer, in recognition of his work in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers in adults and children. For four consecutive years: 2007, 2008, 2009 and now 2010, Dr. Slatkin has been named Top Cancer Doctor for his work in cancer; additionally, he was named Top Doctor in Pain Medicine in 2007 and in 2010.
"I'm pleased to be recognized by my peers as one of America's Top Doctors in Cancer and Pain Medicine," said Neal Slatkin, MD, DABPM, Chief Medical Officer of Hospice of the Valley. "I'm equally honored to be among the nation's most outstanding physicians for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in adults and children."
Okay, so I might be a little biased but you have to admit: Congratulations are in order!
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Power of Ethical Wills
Using Words That Heal
The document he held in his hand read like a lawyer had charged him for more than time and effort. It was the beginning of healing and such benefits would be priceless. Ethical wishes made their way into the legal swamp of bequeathing and here-to-fore’s. His worldly possessions, though few, were distributed according to his wishes. With caution and inner searching, words of "why" certain choices and decisions were made were clarified. A man’s last will and testament also became his ethical will by injecting small doses of his reasons for certain decisions. He was healed of an infection that had rendered him angry prior to releasing his frustration in a document that would be witnessed and acknowledged after his death. Ethical wills take many forms yet can be the conduit to resolution and completion in our lives and the lives of our patients. Patients and families come to hospice when the end is usually much nearer than the six month allotment of supposed time and therefore ethical wills are rarely addressed. Nurses are in critical mode, hurriedly addressing pain and symptoms in an effort to begin working to alleviate emotional pain. Social workers are ecstatic to have actual counseling time but are most likely struggling to make the initial visit or complete the loose ends of other advanced directives and wishes not yet addressed. The chaplain and volunteers are often requested to not visit until the need is anything but writing an ethical will. The spiritual pain is often lost in silence and never gains ground in being expressed to family and friends. What is an ethical will? Of biblical origin, the ethical will was once an assignment of blessings and statements from the elder fathers to their sons. Today we see these wills in a disguise of journaling and personal notes. There is no appropriate or designated format for this type of will. The contents are magical in their powers to heal and the magic is not formed in following specific criteria for form. There can always be healing - even when experiencing the end of life. A piece of paper, a notebook, or a beautiful handmade leather journal may all serve the same purpose. The words are written to explain the reason for choices made, the expectations of life and family, ideas, forgiveness, explanations. No formal will and testament gives an ear to the discomforts of the soul, except the ethical will. As an agency or an individual, you can begin the healing of your patients by encouraging the documentation of those thoughts and feelings that have surfaced with the intrusion of death. The ethical will may take the form of a terminally ill mother writing her blessings and wishes in a journal to leave for her daughter, a young man who wants his siblings to understand his heart and the reasons for actions he has taken as the obstacle of death stands fast in his way, or the couple who have no one but each other that leaves their legacy of love in writing for someone to acknowledge or witness. It has been said that all any of us really need are witnesses. We need a witness that our life holds great meaning and purpose; a witness that we have loved and are loved; a witness to our life. As members of the hospice community or any health care programs it is an honor to be the witness that our patients need in this new realm of spiritual discovery. If it is a hospice patient or ourselves contemplating the presentation of an ethical will, some tried and true tips will help move the words from heart to hand to paper with the impact and magic that the compilation evokes.- Just start writing.
I often suggest that in writing our life stories it is best to just designate a few minutes daily to writing anything. Let the words flow and then bring them together like a soup. All the ingredients are gathered and the final product is savored given that the brew has time to cook. Unlike the life story journals, the final product should be a stepping-stone to resolution of an incomplete section of our journey. The finality is certain but the journey is not. Make the steps toward completion of information an adventure in discovering the deepest thoughts that have anchored our intentions and actions.
- Find stillness.
Absolute quiet and serenity will help thoughts bubble up and dissipate. The remaining pieces are slow to rise but will as we practice stillness. Those remnants of thought that do not disappear are the ones to address and to nurture. These are the engines that have given us motivation and fear, desire and dread, dreams and complacency. When we discover or our patients discover these remnants, the dissection of their meaning bring serenity and power.
- Be grateful, find moments of happiness, question why and then document the discovery and understanding. These are emotions developed into words that will be read by future generations or possibly by only one person. The moment we arrive at our reasons for being, we become our own witness.
- The ethical will is the ultimate instrument for eternal wellness. As the master of the tool we hold the ability to assist others on their journey. It is a marvel that words hold such keys to power and that a moment of guiding others to learn to use this tool helps our own healing powers develop. Of all the medicines, words from the soul may be the most potent.
Robin Watts is a hospice care consultant with Regency Hospice located in the serene mountain vistas of Northeast Georgia.and founder of the Hospice Volunteer Training Online program.
rmw44. (Dec 31, 2007). The Power of Ethical Wills. Retrieved Monday, Feb 14, 2011, from http://allnurses.com/showthread.php?t=270820
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