Senior living community in Topeka holds parade for lonely residents
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – A big part of the coronavirus pandemic is social distancing, which can be lonely.
That’s why on Sunday, a senior community in Topeka is making sure the people who live there are feeling connected.
Oak Creek Senior Living had a small drive by parade for family members Sunday afternoon to keep their spirits up and to remind them they’re not alone.
The people who live there haven’t been able to have visitors inside for months, so it was a welcome bit of socializing.
“I’m ready to party,” Israel Lester, one man who lives there said.”
They called it the “Spread the love and Kindness parade”, Activities Director, Penny Addis, said.
“We’re really close as a group. We call this place our family and it’s my family too,” Addis said. “So it’s important that we all help each other out.”
Families drove by with decorated cars, horns honking, and waving from a distance, to show their loved ones how much they care.
“It’s heart warming. It really is. Knowing that I just can’t get in to visit her..I miss her,” Pearl Cox, a friend of a woman who lives at Oak Creek said. “I miss being able to hug her.”
The Oak Creek seniors were smiling ear to ear the entire parade; laughing, cheering, and happy to see those who mean the most to them again.
“My nephew’s going to bring his 2000 red Corvette here, so he’s excited too,” Lester said.
They’ve also been doing window visits and church on the patio to help keep them feeling social, while also still staying safe.
To check out more of what the residents at Oak Creek are doing, including their TikTok videos, click here.