After the COVID-19 pandemic began shutting things down last year a student at Florida Gulf Coast University had the idea to get university students connected with local seniors in assisted living facilities through good old fashioned letter writing.
Now, almost a year later, nearly 500 students are participating in the “Students & Seniors: From Our Nest to Theirs” program. Students earn service-learning hours, which are needed by all FGCU students to graduate, by writing letters, and creating cards, videos, poems, stories, and works of art, which are then distributed to seniors living in care facilities in Lee and Collier Counties.
We learn about the program, and the impact it’s having on participating students, with Emanuella Cervello, she is the Program Director, and a Writing Consultant at the FGCU Writing Center; Sarah Martin, program treasurer and an undergraduate intern; and Susana Garcia, program vice president.