IDAHO — Allona's Angels, a local nonprofit, collected Christmas gifts for 739 seniors at assisted living and memory care facilities in the Treasure Valley.
“I was so surprised when Santa Claus came inside my room. It was so nice," said Ferne Lehn, a resident at Grace Assisted Living. "I didn’t know who the angel was, but I was surprised to get it. I got a bracelet, and I wear it all the time."
“Ferne, she started tearing up, and some of them haven’t seen their families in so long, and so it was just so touching to see their reactions and how happy they were," said Randy Marshall, Grace Assisted Living Activity Coordinator.
The gifts and stockings were delivered to them to open up on Christmas morning.
“It was nice to know that somebody knew we were here," said Lehn. "It’s been so hard to just stay in your room and not see anyone except the workers, but we were so surprised.”
They have been in lockdown for a couple of months and can't see any of their friends or family.
“I had the greatest time unpacking the bag on Christmas morning. Thank you so very much. That’s the nicest thing to happen since our families were able to come in here,” said Annemarie Woehlbrandt.
Just like the facilities Christmas parties had to be canceled, so will their Valentines Day party because of the pandemic.
“When we are open and able to do everything that we normally do, Valentine's Day is a huge party that we normally do and we have a band and everything,” said Marshall.
So, Allona's Angels is stepping up again and asking the community for help.
“We are asking anyone that wants to get involved just to make handmade Valentine's, so we will be delivering those to the facilities," said Cindy Davis, Allona's Angels Co-Founder.
.
It can include a special note, candy, and/or a gift.
“We are hoping to just continue to bring smiles and joy to these seniors and help them remember that there are people out there that care about them and are thinking about them,” said Davis.
"And they truly have the best name because they are all angels," said Lehn.
Allona's Angels is completely run on donations, and 100 percent of the donations go to the seniors.
This year their goal is to deliver valentines to the seniors living in over 35 assisted living and memory care facilities in the Treasure Valley,
To learn more or to donate, visit Allonasangels.org.
Or join their Facebook group, Allona's Angels, to get more updates.
