By Marcus Uhe
The Lions Club of Lyndhurst and District have been spreading their generosity across the community, with the latest benefactors being the Casey Health Aged Care facility in Narre Warren.
An initial 75 care packages including containing snacks, handwritten messages, personal items and word puzzles were delivered on Thursday 2 June to the facility, for staff to distribute to the residents.
A further 75 were delivered on Tuesday 7 June.
Lyn Perera from the Lions club said the idea was months in the making.
“Earlier this year we thought the elderly were being forgotten about around the nursing homes because they couldn’t have visitors at the time,” Ms Perera said.
“They can have visitors now but still limited and a difficult process.
“We are keen to help out our community and we’re always open to suggestions from general community for where time and money available be spent.”
The idea for the project first came to light in January but required meticulous budgeting, as the club had missed crucial fundraising opportunities in recent years as a result of the pandemic.
Lions members dug deep in order to bring the project to life, Ms Perera said.
It wasn’t just the residents who received the thoughtful gifts – the staff at Casey Health Aged Care were also given chocolates as a thank you gesture.
Lifestyle coordinator at the facility Nathan Neal described the gesture as very generous and heart-warming.
Mr Neal said it was wonderful that people are still thinking of those in aged care.
“Lyn said she wanted to bring a smile to the residents’ faces,” he said.
“It was a nice surprise for them and their reaction was great.
“From a community standpoint it’s such a nice gesture. Aged care has been painted with a pretty bad brush in recent years.
“It (Covid-19) hasn’t been easy for staff and residents. We’re happy they’ve reached out and done such a nice thing.”
The Lions have been busy with other initiatives this year, including fundraising for flood victims in northern NSW and Queensland.
In August, The Lions Club of Lyndhurst and District in association with the Lions Club of Dandenong Supper and the Lions Club of Dandenong are hosting a skin cancer check and awareness unit at the Sandown Park Hotel carpark, providing free skin checks on the 13 and 14 August.
The checks will be provided by fully trained, certified and professionally supervised volunteers.
