If you’re looking to craft for seniors, look no further than joining the Forget Me Not community!
Senior centers across the United States regularly need handmade items to support their community.
One of the easiest things to donate? Handmade cards.
Plus, an opportunity like this one is also a wonderful way to volunteer from home in small increments instead of one large block of time.
So please get to know Forget Me Not and then craft for seniors by donating some handmade (or store bought) cards to their campaigns to brighten a person’s day.
What Is Forget Me Not?
In order to learn more about Forget Me Not, I interviewed the group leader, Lisa, and our conversation is below.
Create To Donate: Why did you decide to start Forget Me Not?
Forget Me Not: Vicky Hankins decided to start Forget Me Not because of her love of the elderly, and also because she saw a need for seniors in nursing homes.
Sadly, a good number of residents of nursing homes do not receive any visitors or mail…ever.
Vicky’s goal with Forget Me Not is to touch those lives and the lives of all seniors with a show of love through greeting cards.
We’ve had reports of seniors breaking down into tears of happiness just by receiving a single card.
Create To Donate: Who do you serve and where?
Forget Me Not: We serve seniors who are in nursing homes, assisted living, and other 60+ communities all across the United States.
We feature a new nursing home every Monday so many facilities are touched in a year’s time.
Create To Donate: How many members do you have and how large would you like to grow?
Forget Me Not: As of 4/18/23 we have 4,173 members and we would love to see that number double in size.
From there, the sky’s the limit! The more members we have, the more seniors’ lives we can touch.
Create To Donate: How does someone request support from your group?
Forget Me Not: Requesting support is quite simple.
You can either:
- Join the group and submit a request via Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/groups/Forgetmenot111 – or,
- You can email lisajgurney [at] gmail [dot] com.
No nursing home is too big or too small.
Create To Donate: How does someone support your efforts if they don’t actively use Facebook?
Forget Me Not: We have an email list of over 500 members, some of whom never use Facebook. They’ve learned of our group from flyers we’ve put out across the country.
To join our email list, please contact lisajgurney [at] gmail [dot] com.
We’d be so happy to have you!
Recommended Products
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Create To Donate: What requirements do you have for card donations? Are there specific types of cards that are more popular than others?
Forget Me Not: We don’t have requirements for our card donations.
They can be handmade or store bought. You can mail in one card or one hundred.
You can send every week or once a year. We appreciate any participation at all.
The most popular type of card to send is “Thinking of You,” but holiday cards are very popular as well.
Create to Donate: What other types of donations do you accept and what requirements do you have for those?
Forget Me Not: Along with submitting card requests, activities directors can also submit Amazon wish lists with items either their seniors need personally (shampoo, body wash, etc.), or for items their activities department needs (craft activities, puzzles, etc.).
Our requirements for submitting a wish list are 12 items $30 or under, and 12 items $15 or under.
We almost always fulfill every wish list in its entirety.
Create To Donate: Where should people send their handmade donations?
Forget Me Not: That varies every week based on what nursing home we are featuring. Whomever is interested in donating would have to join our Facebook page or our email list to receive those details.
Make Handmade Cards For Seniors
If you’re looking for some new card making projects to try when you craft for seniors, here are some ideas to jump start your creativity.
Also since Mother’s Day is just around the corner, I created nine free Mother’s Day card designs for you to print and donate. All you need to do for most of them is add your own message on the inside.
I also created some cards whose designs are basically a coloring page. So, you can have fun adding your own personal touch!
How Will You Help Forget Me Not?
Learning about nonprofits and community support groups across the United States is always a fun process, because I get to see where there is a need and how many different ways there are to meet it.
What I love about Forget Me Not is the simplicity of how they address the requests of nursing homes and then communicate that to their supporters.
So, if you are looking for a volunteer from home opportunity to craft for seniors that is as straightforward as they come, the Forget Me Not community would be a great fit!
Please join them today and contribute some handmade or store bought cards if you are able.
Even the smallest of contributions will make a difference!