Written by: Jullianne Pham, Miss Social 2016
On Saturday October 1, 2016; Jullianne and Alex visited the Lytton Gardens in Palo Alto to help decorate the nursing home for Halloween! The ladies arrived at 10AM to check-in. Upon arrival, they were led towards the storage room in the back—there were a handful of boxes, containers, and baskets full of Halloween decorations! They were told that they had the freedom to decorate as they pleased in the front lobby and in the back room where the elderly played games and ate their meals. Alex and Jullianne decorated the front lobby first with window decals, scarecrow stands, ceiling decor, and wall decorations. Halloween signs, skeletons, and bats were hung along each wall of the room; while pumpkins, ghosts, and orange & black decor were placed among the tables, table stands, and counters. Some of the elderly even stopped by to give them advice on where to place the decorations!
Once Alex and Jullianne finished decorating the front lobby, they proceeded to the back room. They pasted window decals on all of the backyard doors, hung ceiling decors along each corner of the room, and placed small pumpkins along the walls and ground of the room. Small scarecrows and witches were placed at various corners of the room; some were also placed on the piano and desks. The elderly that were playing cards and bingo at the time complimented the ladies on how well they decorated and conversed with them about their volunteer work—it was heart-warming hearing their lovely comments about how not many volunteers come by to help, so it was nice seeing new faces for a change.
When Alex and Jullianne finished, one of the elderly approached them to talk about school and their pageant experience. It was a lovely experience being able to work with the elderly. Being able to make their day by livening up the place with new decorations made the ladies very happy!
If you are interested in volunteering at Lytton Gardens in the future, you can express your interest to: Dora Sanchez,
dsanchez@jtm-esc.org