Austin Seniors Send Early Christmas Cheer To Troops

AUSTIN, TX — In what has been, let's just say a memorably untraditional year what with the backdrop of the coronavirus, Christmas couldn't come soon enough for the spreading of holiday cheer and goodwill. Residents at Buckner Villas thought so too, recently preparing to send out nearly 800 holiday stockings to deployed service members.

Teaming up with Operation Support Our Troops – America, residents of the senior living center this week will send out 769 stockings to members of the military during the pandemic as a part of the Holiday Stocking program. The resident-crafted stockings and handwritten Christmas letters will soon arrive at the organization’s headquarters in Illinois where they will be sorted and shipped to service men and women around the world ahead of the holidays, officials said.

Operation Support Our Troops – America is a nonprofit organization that works to boost morale and bring comfort to those that are serving the country in all branches of the military. The organization has a goal to show troops that the American people have not forgotten them, and do so through year-round donation collection, various holiday care package events and more.

A Buckner Villas resident proudly shows off her handiwork headed to bring a smile to a deployed military member in the coming days. Photo courtesy of Buckner Villas.

This is the fifth year Buckner Villas has participated in the program. Materials to make the stockings were donated from across five different states thanks to 2019's successful donation, Buckner Villas officials said. The stockings were sent to Operation Support Our Troops to be filled with items such as candy, snacks and hand warmers by other charities around the country, officials added.

News and social media coverage centered on last year’s stocking donation by Buckner Villas residents generated national attention. As a result, officials said craft supplies and materials were donated to the senior living community from across Texas and five additional states. Those materials were used to create the 2020 stockings without the need for the purchase of any additional items, according to Buckner Villas officials.

The stockings that were created by residents will be filled with items such as candy and snacks by other organizations across the nation to be distributed among troops currently deployed around the globe, serving during the pandemic. One resident said when her husband and nephew served, they said mail meant a lot to them, so she loves taking a part in showing troops how much she appreciates them.

“My husband served in Vietnam, and my nephew served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Buckner Villas resident Kay Gonzalez said in a prepared statement. “They both shared with me how much mail meant to them when they were away from home. The least I can do is to help make the Christmas stockings and write letters to the military to let them know how much we love and appreciate them.”

Holiday care packages were given an added personal touch with notes from residents at Buckner Villas. Photo provided by Buckner Villas.

Janet Burnett, life enrichment director at Buckner Villas, said she is proud of the work the residents put into the stockings, and that she was happy to see the residents enjoying socializing again: “Playing a part in Operation Support Our Troops donation programs is important to many of our residents. The support they show for the military and hard work they put into the stockings each year is inspiring. I am proud of our residents for playing a part in the mission to increase morale and show the military that we are thinking of them. Making the stockings was a blessing during the unprecedented times we are living in right now. I was just happy to see some of our residents in the same room, just enjoying each other’s company.”

To mitigate risks for residents, Buckner paused in-person social gatherings in senior living communities and moved some daily activities such as exercise classes to virtual means, officials noted. In May, Buckner distributed surveys to its six senior living communities in Texas asking residents questions about what activities they miss participating in, how they felt about current precautions and more. The survey results indicated that 54 percent of residents wanted their group activities to resume.

Diligently donning a protective mask, a Buckner Villas resident smiles with her eyes as she proudly displays her truck-themed holiday stocking. Photo provided by Buckner Villas.

Making the stockings also provided residents a safe opportunity to gather and socialize — all while supporting the troops — amid a respiratory illness scourge that has struck older residents disproportionately. Residents were allowed to gather with proper social distancing measures and face coverings to make the stockings for Operation Support Our Troops., officials said. What's more, officials added, Buckner staff ensured proper social distancing measures outlined by the CDC were implemented during the creation of the stockings, and material brought in went through all proper sanitation before it was given to residents to create.

Another Buckner Villas resident altered her daily routine to help create holiday stockings for deployed service members. Photo provided by Buckner Villas.