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Lakeland seniors being adopted, sent balloon arrangements by community

A national initiative, Adopt a Senior, has seen over 230 balloon arrangements sent to local facilities to bring a smile to resident's faces
Adoptaseniorweb
The community is bringing smiles to seniors in local facilities, one balloon arrangement at a time. Photo submitted.

LAKELAND – A local business is participating in a national campaign aimed at putting smiles on the faces of local seniors, one balloon bouquet at a time.   

Adopt a Senior, or grandparent, was launched to combat loneliness some may be facing due to the pandemic. The initiative typically sees a gift of some sort sent to long-term care facilities to raise the spirits of the residents.  

When Jessica Jubinville heard about the initiative, she decided to put her own spin on it through her business, Chic Perfection.   

“Everybody has kind of done it differently and done their own take on it, but what I wanted to do was to allow the community to adopt a grandparent or senior by sending $15 and in return, Chic Perfection would create and deliver a balloon arrangement to one of our senior facilities,” she detailed.  

Jubinville started with the hope of getting enough community support to put together 31 arrangements for Valentine’s Day to deliver to Points West Living Cold Lake. Every single resident was provided with a bouquet of balloons for the holiday, and Jubvinville received photos of smiling seniors who were surprised with the gifts.   

“Everybody has gone through so much this past year, but our seniors in particular have been isolated, especially the ones that are in our senior facilities and have gone through a lot more. They just need to be reminded that we’re still here, we’re thinking of them, and want to give them a little smile.”   

That initial goal was reached and surpassed with over 230 seniors being adopted through the program.   

“The community has been amazing. We’re completely done Cold Lake, all three facilities in Cold Lake have been adopted and delivered to. Long-term Care, Points West, and the lodge.”  

She added, “I’ve lived in Cold Lake now for 17 or 18 years and the community of Cold Lake itself has always been so generous and giving. It’s just an amazing area to live in. So I was hopeful it would (expand) but it still blows my mind that we are where we are.”  

After her success in the city, Jubinville continued the program and expanded it into the Town of Bonnyville. Bonnyville Long-Term Care, Bonnyville Extendicare, and the Bonnylodge have completely been adopted and delivered to.   

Bryanna Reid, manager of the Bonnyville Extendicare, said the bouquets were a welcome surprise for residents.  

“Jessica went over and above during extremely trying times to bring a smile to the faces of Bonnyville Extendicare,” she expressed. “Not only did she take incredible initiative to start her ‘Adopt a Grandparent’ campaign, the effort put into her balloons was like no other. I cannot thank Jessica enough for taking this lead to ensure that the seniors of the Lakeland area are thought of and received something special at a time when they don’t often have anything else to bring a smile to their faces.”   

Once the facilities in Bonnyville have been adopted and bouquets delivered, Jubinville hopes to expand to St. Paul and then on to other communities. 

“All the seniors, whether it’s Cold Lake, Bonnyville, or St. Paul, they’re all kind of in the same boat. They’re isolated. A lot of places aren’t allowing families or anything to come in and a lot of them don’t have a lot of visitors to begin with. But, with COVID-19 going on, it’s just a really rough time and to spend $15 to make somebody’s day is well worth it.”  

Anyone interested in adopting a local senior can email [email protected] or visit www.chicperfectionevents.com/shop.   

Robynne Henry, Bonnyville Nouvelle 

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