“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”
– Alfred Austin
This past week, our Planting Partners came together to make our community just a little bit more beautiful by planting pots of flowers to be displayed in our courtyard throughout the summer.
Planting Partners is an annual event at McGregor. As a community favorite, our residents, staff, and volunteers look forward to Planting Partners each year as we experience the joy of planting flowers together in our courtyard.
For the event, residents pair up with a volunteer or a staff member to plant five flowers in a 20-inch pot. While planting these flowers, both partners engage in hands-on gardening and lively conversations that cross generational boundaries.
Wilhelmina & Gabrielle complete their work of art!
How does your garden grow? Gwen proudly displays hers!
The Planting Partners program, like gardening in general, is beneficial to our seniors because it provides them with an enjoyable form of exercise, encourages the use of fine motor skills, improves strength and endurance, and reduces stress levels. An added benefit of the Planting Partners program is that it improves overall wellbeing as a result of the social interaction between partners.
Furthermore, many of our residents have told us that having a garden is one of the things they miss the most about their lives before coming to McGregor. Planting Partners gives these residents the ability to satisfy their green thumb while engaging in an activity that contributes to physical, emotional, and social wellness for everyone involved.
Following the Planting Partners program, each pot is labeled with the name of the resident who planted it. For our residents, this provides a much-needed excuse to venture outside to check on and water their plants. It also gives them something that they can share with family, friends, and other guests during visits.
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson
Volunteers who have served at Planting Partners have expressed the joy that they have felt after learning that they have made a positive difference in the life of an older adult. Their contributions have also served our entire community by making our physical space just a little bit more beautiful for everyone to see.
McGregor wants to thank our friends from New Community Bible Fellowship for serving our residents at this year’s Planting Partners event!
At the end of the day, Planting Partners is like a seed that, once sown, never dies because of the joy it brings to the lives of our staff, our volunteers, and most importantly, our residents.
“Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.” -Unknown
While it may be too late to be a Planting Partner this summer, there are still plenty of opportunities to make this world just a little bit more beautiful for our residents by volunteering at McGregor! To learn about meaningful opportunities for within our community, please visit our volunteer page