Holiday Magic Abounds At Leelanau County Nursing Homes

It started as a way to bring some extra joy during a historically downbeat holiday season. Now in its fifth year, the Christmastime “adopt-a-resident” program at Maple Valley Nursing Home in Maple City has grown into what Activity Director Serena Kasben considers one of Leelanau County’s most heartwarming displays of generosity and holiday spirit.

“In 2020, when COVID-19 hit, I noticed that our residents were really down in the dumps,” Kasben says. “We always have some residents who don’t have loved ones around, but that year, really no one had been able to see their family members. I was trying to find a way to make everyone’s holiday a little better, and we came up with the idea of adopting a resident.”

The concept was relatively simple: Kasben asked each resident at Maple Valley to brainstorm a holiday wish list, and the nursing home then photographed each resident with their list and posted the pictures to social media. Community members or organizations could then volunteer to “adopt” one or more residents for the holidays – and to buy and donate the items on their wish lists.

When Kasben launched the first adopt-a-resident program in December 2020, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Maple Valley is a relatively small nursing home with a relatively small social media following – the business’s Facebook page currently has 639 followers – and Kasben didn’t know how far the post would even reach, let alone what the response would be.

What happened next exceeded all expectations.

“It was actually within an hour [of posting on Facebook] that everybody was adopted,” Kasben tells The Ticker. “It was a little overwhelming, but also so moving. I was really surprised with how fast the community stepped up and how much they took care of the residents.”

The unique loneliness of that first pandemic Christmas ultimately subsided, but even as things went back to normal, the memory of that initial adopt-a-resident program stuck in Kasben’s mind. When the holidays wound back around in 2021, she decided to bring the program back and make it an annual tradition. 2024 marks the fifth adopt-a-resident Christmas at Maple Valley.

While Kasben briefly wondered whether the generosity of that COVID Christmas would fade in subsequent years, she says the program has only grown. Since 2020, not a single resident wish list has gone unspoken for. This year, the nursing home posted wish lists on Facebook at 4pm on December 9, and all 25 of its residents had been adopted by the following day. And even after every resident is taken care of, Kasben continues to field calls and messages from community members interested in helping out in some way.

“Sometimes, we have people asking about our staff, and if they can do anything for our team, which is fantastic,” Kasben says. “We’ve had groups offer gifts during Valentine's Day as well, because they realized that the Christmas season was taken care of and everyone was adopted, but still wanted to chip in. We’ve also had people donate things that all the residents can enjoy, like outdoor decorations for our yard, bird feeders, or an outdoor table for the picnics we do once a week during the summer season.”

Maple Valley isn’t the only nursing home in Leelanau County that runs an adopt-a-resident program during the holiday season. Northport Highlands Senior Living rolled out a similar program this year, unveiling 25 resident wish lists on December 13; all residents have since been adopted. MediLodge of Leelanau, meanwhile, has partnered with Hansen Foods of Suttons Bay for its annual adopt-a-resident program, inviting community members to select a resident’s ornament from a “care tree” at the grocery store (pictured), sign up for the program at the customer service counter, and fulfill the wish list by December 21.

Kasben says she’ll keep residents’ gifts in her office until Christmas Eve, when the Maple Valley team will put everything under the facility’s two Christmas trees. The idea, she says, is to recreate the magic and joy of a childhood Christmas morning.

“When the residents see it all on Christmas morning, it’s truly unbelievable,” Kasben says. “Just seeing the looks on their faces, they’re so surprised and overjoyed. That generation really doesn't expect a lot; if you look at their wish lists, their wants are things like body wash, a fuzzy blanket, or socks; just very simple necessities. So, it’s something that I really enjoy, watching them look and see what they got. The first time we did it, it definitely brought tears to my eyes.”