Samaritan hosted a picnic at Lumberton Middle School on June 13 to celebrate a program that fosters connections between kids and seniors.
Samaritan hosted a celebratory picnic earlier this month to mark the culmination of a new program that connects youth and seniors.
The Intergenerational Pilot Program – part of the agency’s Social Connections initiative – is designed to connect the two demographics so they can foster valuable relationships and stronger social connections with each other in a new way.
The pilot was intentionally designed to help decrease social isolation and loneliness among different generations while providing valuable opportunities for them to share experiences and wisdom.
“We loved how it turned out in the end,” said Emily Kotarski, social service coordinator at The Roosevelt, a senior living community in Mount Laurel. “We now have an example of what it could be, so we can only make it better from here.”
For the pilot program, students from Bobby’s Run School in Lumberton were partnered with residents from The Roosevelt from April through June for biweekly, virtual visits and a variety of activities that culminated with the June 11 picnic, the first time the senior residents and students met in person.
“The residents left every meeting with a spark of energy in them, and they loved the kids,” Kotarski noted. “Hearing what they had to say, they wanted to know what the kids were interested in, and even afterwards, they would ask me (questions) so they could just learn more about it.”
The residents look forward to meeting again.
“The residents got to see what kids really want to know and they want to be a part of it just as much,” Kotarski explained. “They’ve been talking about (the picnic) for the last two weeks. They were so excited to come, and as soon as they saw the kids their faces lit up …
“They were so excited to come here.”
