Holiday cheer delivered to Elizabeth Seton residents in Wellesley

There’s something special about the relationship children have with their grandparents. During a holiday season when these special ties are being nurtured from a distance, Elmwood Christian Preschool teachers partnered with the Elizabeth Seton Residence Activities Team for a holiday project to promote connection between the generations through Project Nana.

Project Nana was started in memory of Sara Sayadian Warda, a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother whose last years were spent in a nursing facility. Each Christmas, her out-of-state grandchildren would send her a tabletop pre-lit Christmas
tree for her room. After Sara’s death, project Nana was started with the hope that the magic of a twinkling Christmas tree would evoke warm and happy memories for other cherished elders.

Since Project Nana is meant to foster connection, the Elmwood teachers sent Christmas ornament coloring pages home with each child so as to involve the whole family. Families were asked to color the pictures with their children, share stories about their grandparents and other older relatives, and then return the colored ornaments to school to hang on the Project Nana tree. At school, the children then painted yellow and gold wooden stars to adorn the tops of the trees, and added other decorations.

The trees were then delivered to the Elizabeth Seton Residence, and the Activities Team of the skilled nursing and rehabilitation home distributed a tree to each room. Lori Ferante, administrator of ESR said, “The residents were delighted to receive the trees, but they absolutely loved the crayon artwork cards from the children. The artwork has a place of honor on many resident walls, while the trees shed a beautiful glow in every room. We all appreciate this multi-generational gift of love and are just sad that the children can’t visit for themselves this year to see the joy they spread. We are most grateful for their kind efforts.”

When the Elizabeth Seton Residence’s courtyard tree-lighting ceremony was held Friday. The additional sparkle from the tree in each resident’s each room tree was the perfect accompaniment.

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