More than a dozen youngsters brought Christmas magic to Prestige Senior Living Rosemont in Yelm as they wrote letters to Santa Claus and sang “Jingle Bells” to residents Monday, Dec. 2.
Students from Leaps & Bounds Childcare arrived via bus to the assisted living facility to enjoy hot cocoa and set their wishes free at the writing station in the lobby. Representatives from the Yelm Chamber of Commerce and City of Yelm helped Prestige Senior Living Rosemont cut a ribbon for a special North Pole mailbox, which will be open through Dec. 19.
Children wrote a list of the gifts they wanted for Christmas and stuffed them in the mailbox before singing to residents. As soon as the children left, residents tore into the mailbox and began writing responses to every letter.
“We want to bring the magic back. With social media and with movies and TV and all of the influence these days, it is so easy for kids to lose the magic so soon in their childhood,” said Kylie Woods, Rosemont community relations director. “We were thinking, what can we do to not only benefit the residents but also put some more magic in the kids for just a little bit longer?”
Woods said four residents in particular have experience in writing letters to their grandchildren and were “bursting at the seams” to start writing letters back.
“I loved it. I watched the residents, and as [the kids] were singing, one of the residents started crying,” she said. “Not a lot of people notice how much impact it has on the residents. That’s really the why of why we do so many events is to try to create traditions.”
Some of the children, including Evelyn Sines and Arlow Chambers, wished for L.O.L. Surprise! Bubble Surprise toys, while Clayton Gero asked for a toy monster truck, Maverick Hess requested a scooter and William McKay wanted a Spider-Man toy.
Children decorated their letters with colorful stickers and markers before stuffing them into green envelopes and placing them in the red mailbox. Each child was required to put a return address so Santa Claus can respond to every letter.
