Suzette Cook
Grab some paint or crayons, practice your rhyming skills and get creative is the request of the High Springs Fire Department in an effort to reach out to senior citizens in the community.
“We want to spread some joy throughout the community,” High Springs Fire Department Public Information Officer Kevin Mangan said about launching the Caring Card Drive.
“In a time of self-quarantine and social distancing, the neighbors that we are trying to protect are also the ones who can be affected the most,” Mangan said. “For the elderly in our community, loneliness is a very real thing.
“We want to spread joy through our town, by distributing cards to our senior citizens,” he said. “Sweet messages, drawings, a favorite poem or story, whatever you think fits best on a care card, we want to see it! We’re asking our community to come together and flood High Springs with Caring Cards.”
The High Springs Fire Department partnered with the High Springs Police Department for the project.
Cards will be collected at the High Springs Fire Department at 18586 NW 238th St. For contact-free drop off, a plastic bin has been placed outside the main entrance.
“This is a perfect project for the kids who are home right now,” Mangan said and added that senior citizens rely on activities to socialize and now they can’t do that.
“There are people from the greatest generation sitting in their homes for their own safety,” he said.
Mangan said they are also looking for recommendations of who to deliver the cards to.
“If you know of a person in need of cheering up, please message us their name and address.”
The cards will then be spread out every night and to eliminate any possible contamination, “We will wipe them down and let them sit for 48 hours or so,” Mangan said.
The delivery will be contact free, he added. The officer or firefighter will knock on the door, stay a safe distance away and will wear a mask and gloves.
“We have a tight knit community,” Mangan said. “If we can put just one smile on someone’s face, then mission accomplished.”
“We want to spread joy through our town, by distributing cards to our senior citizens. Sweet messages, drawings, a favorite poem or story, whatever you think fits best on a care card, we want to see it! We’re asking our community to come together and flood High Springs with Caring Cards.”
–Kevin Mangan/High Springs Fire Department