Penny Jar

Go to your local hospital gift shop and buy a treat for the next patient that comes in. There are a lot of long-term patients, especially the elderly, who would love an occasional treat but can’t afford it.

Become a pen pal for shut-ins, terminal patients, and especially elderly people. Make sure your mail is “all dressed up” with special little gifties, like coupons for their favourite food or rainbow stickers, anything to cheer them up.

If you see an elderly person sitting alone in a coffeeshop, be sure to catch their eye and smile. If they don’t mind, go sit with them to look at their family snapshots and hear their stories. A lot of elderly people save up their pennies just to go “outside” and sit with other people. Make sure they get their money’s worth!

Always have calling cards with you, in case you witness an accident or you meet someone who might need your assistance later for something (i.e. an older person who needs help picking up their groceries).

If you have to do your clothes in a laundromat and you have an elderly person living nearby, offer to take their things at the same time as you take yours. It’s not that much extra work, really, and it means a lot to people who have limited mobility and arthritis to have things folded for them.

If you have the resources to offer an older person an electric toothbrush, do. Their arthritis poses serious barriers to effective dental care, and if you’re older with a limited budget, the last thing you need is a lot of emergency dental work. The best kind of electric toothbrush for this is the kind that doesn’t shake too much in your hand.

Go read to somebody. There’s always someone around who would love to hear a good story. Read to kids at your local library or daycare centre, to immigrants, shut-ins, or the elderly at homes. If you can teach a little in the way of literacy at the same time, so much the better.

When shopping, please do remember to buy extra tins for the food bank. And leave coupons for people where the items are. And pay for the next person’s groceries, especially if they’re elderly, or have children, or look particularly grouchy.

Always cook double. It doesn’t take that much extra effort, and there’s always someone who could really benefit from a hot homecooked meal… the two-job family, the lonely elder or the new mother, for example. If you can’t find anyone to give your food to, just stick it in the freezer… and consider it a job well done that you’ve saved yourself some cooking on another day!

If you happen to be the owner of a restaurant and if you can afford it, slip a little extra onto the plates of the elderly or single moms. i.e. if a grandmother comes in with her carefully-saved pennies to order a burger and coffee for her one time out a month, make sure she gets a really good hamburger and maybe a juice, salad, or dessert with it. Say it’s a one-hour special for the elderly, or she’s the 2000th customer etc., if she asks why.

If you can afford it, go to the pound/animal shelter and pick out a cat that doesn’t look like it stands a chance. Give it all it’s shots, take care of it until it’s good and healthy, then give it to a senior that needs a friend. The cat will be well cared for and the senior will get all the unconditional love they could want.

If you have a friend or neighbour who has trouble walking, see about renting the equipment for them that would make walking easier, i.e. a wheelchair, cane, or other walking support. Of course the best support is your arm…offer THAT as often as you can!

i know this seems like a small thing, but leave older folks enough time to answer the phone. And a lot of phones cut to a message after a couple of rings, so call back if you didn’t get through the first time. It’s very difficult for older people with arthritis to pull themselves out of a chair and run to the phone with a cane!

Now that the young hopefuls are just starting to poke their heads out of the ground down in the garden, wouldn’t it be a nice idea to load up with a few primula etc. and put in a surprise garden for your elderly neighbour? The next time she looks out her window, she might just think there’s been a miracle!

Make up a small Xeroxed book of heartsmart recipes for that person you know who has just had a stroke/heart attack. Unlearning old fatty habits can be a lot easier if the alternatives look appealing and easy.

Stand up and let a pregnant woman/elderly person/child/disgruntled person have your seat on the bus/subway. Don’t take no for an answer, even if they say they’re only going two blocks.

Keep an extra bottle of ibuprophen in your bag. Next time you see a poor senior with arthritic hands, you have something to give them.

Take care of a senior’s pets, especially things like taking them out for a walk or to the vet.

If you see someone struggling with their groceries, smile and take a couple of bags for them. Take them home for them, even if you have to take another subway or bus. Do this particularly if they are old.