Springville students bring holiday cheer to Trussville Health and Rehab

By J.R. Tidwell

Editor

TRUSSVILLE — Two students from Springville High School brought gifts and some holiday cheer to the residents at Trussville Health and Rehab Thursday.

Springville High School students Katie Whitfield and Makayla Deloach load up stockings to pass out to residents at Trussville Health and Rehab Thursday.

Junior Katie Whitfield and senior Makayla Deloach brought around 90 Christmas stockings filled with gifts to pass out to the residents.

“My mom and I were talking about doing something like this, because my grandmother was in a nursing home,” Whitfield said. “We saw that some people didn’t have anyone to bring them gifts, and doing something like this seemed like the only Christmas cheer they could get.”

This is now the second year Whitfield has helped put together this event, while this is Deloach’s first time helping.

“I started doing it just to try and help brighten people’s day,” Whitfield said. “We definitely would like to try and do this every year.”

“I have really liked doing this, because it makes the residents smile, and they look so cute when they smile. It makes them happy,” Deloach said.

One of the residents who Whitfield and Deloach gave a stocking to was George Waisganis, who could be seen at the center sporting a Santa cap complete with reindeer antlers.

“It feels great,” he said. “All my family is up north, so I have this. Everyone here is like my extended family.

“This is my favorite time of the year. People seem to be more caring of others this time of year, and I like the lights and the festivities.”

Over the last two weeks the Family, Career and Community and Leaders of America (FCCLA) group at Springville has been working to help put together the stockings and gifts for the event.

However, Whitfield and Deloach felt they did not have enough to go around, so they got a little help from the community.

“We had a bunch of donations yesterday,” Deloach said. “The employees at Grayson and Associates in Trussville helped us put this together.”

The two students coordinated the event with Stacy Thornton, the center’s Life Enrichment Director.

“I plan the events here,” she said. “I try to get residents out of their rooms and engaged in meaningful activities and something to look forward to.

“It’s quite a blessing to have the community come in and bless our residents. We strive to have the community come in, because the residents can’t get out as often as they would like when they live here. Any time we have someone come in from outside to visit the residents it really brightens their day.”