We are honored to have the opportunity to connect the generosity of donors with the needs of caregivers in our community. We work with many local organizations on a variety of different projects, so you can donate in a way that fits your budget and your interests.
If you are not currently able to help with a contribution or with your time, you can still make a difference in many meaningful ways.
[icon name=”share-alt” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Spread the word about our services to your friends and family. Supporting a local healthcare program is an excellent way to make a big difference while staying connected to your community.
Select Trego Hospital Endowment Foundation as your charity of choice when you’re shopping at Amazon and Dillons. A percentage of your purchases will go toward local healthcare projects, at no additional cost to you!
[icon name=”shopping-basket” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Next time you’re on a shopping trip, pick up one of the many items on our wish list. Even a small item can be a big comfort to someone living in long term care or dealing with a serious health issue. When you drop it off, you’ll have the opportunity to see first hand neighbors helping neighbors.
Here are some donation ideas for your neighbors residing in long term care:
Cards and Stationary
Sure, we might use email and text to communicate, but it’s not the same as getting an adorable card in the mail or receiving a thoughtfully written letter. Many seniors grew up with cards and letters, and they would love the chance to send thoughtful notes to their loved ones.
Large Print Books
Books have been a means of entertainment for centuries, and they aren’t something those living in nursing homes want to give up. A collection of large print book is a great donation for a nursing home. They will give them more to do during the day and the chance to experience stories they haven’t had the chance to before in a form tailored to them.
Puzzles and Board Games
They may have a tablet or a TV in the nursing home, but when you’re spending all of your days there, it can start to get boring. Donating a new and exciting board game and new puzzle images can brighten their lives for months, giving them a variety to pick from and new things to learn.
Flashlights or Reading Lights
If there is a specific “lights out” time or seniors are sharing a room with a roommate, oftentimes the schedules won’t always line up exactly. Many nursing homes get requests from their patients for a flashlight so that they can keep reading at night without disturbing the people around them. Donating a reading light or a flashlight would be incredibly useful for those patients and give them more freedom to do what they like. It will also allow them to find things if they wake up in the middle of the night so they don’t stumble around their room.
Air Fresheners
Everyone has their impression of what certain restaurants smell like, what hospital smell like, what babies smell like, and guaranteed the patients in a nursing home have their impression of what a nursing home smells like. Living there all the time may cause them to get sick of it. Donating an air freshener not only gives them something new and pleasant to smell around the rooms but can make them feel like they’re somewhere else.
House Plants
Flowers and plants brighten up everyone’s home and make it feel more lively and beautiful and the same thing goes for a nursing home. It will help to brighten up the place and make it feel less plain and generic. Even one plant donation is enough to make the patients stop and admire it and feel a little bit better about where they are. Caring for a plant also adds a fulfilling activity to their daily routine.
Fresh Fruit or Healthy Snacks
You can get sick of the food in your own house and even if you lived at college you had the freedom to go off campus and find outside food, so imagine having to eat the same food every day for years. Fresh fruit is the most effective way to add to someone’s meal. Not only is it delicious, but fresh produce is one of the most high-quality foods there is.
CD or Music Players
There is not a person out there who doesn’t love music or can’t say that they have a favorite song, and the patients of a nursing home are no different. Bringing a little music to their lives is a great way to bring them back to their childhood and to fill their days with something other than the sounds of a hospital or nursing home.
Arts and Craft Supplies
Fun activities to do that get their hands moving are always a good idea for a donation, especially around the holidays. It will give them something to do that doesn’t involve screens and isn’t to hard on their eyes but can give them hours of fun. It is important to make sure that the crafts kit you get doesn’t involve anything too sharp or dangerous.
Time
More than anything when living in a nursing home, the patients want company. They want people to talk to about their lives, and they want to hear about other people’s lives. Even if you only come in for a five minute conversation, it is one of the best ways to brighten up someone’s day with something different and unexpected.
