OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Terri Mahoney started Tender Loving Kindness in 2020. The organization teams up with assisted living facilities and aims to provide personal connections to seniors who may lack a support network.
"I saw what a difference it makes, and I'm just an everyday person, and I was like if I can do it, everyone can do it, and I can't do it by myself," said Mahoney.
Due to pandemic protocols, they've focused on sending cards and artwork. They've received a lot of help from the kids at Millard Children's Academy.
About 50 school-aged children make up the summer school program. They decided to set a goal of how many pages they'd color for Tender Loving Kindness to share with seniors. At first, they settled on 1,664 donations or pieces of artwork.
"I was like maybe let's go or a thousand, maybe that's a little more reasonable," said educator Heather Lund, who wondered if they could achieve such a lofty goal.
On July 22, they did hit that goal. And they decided to keep going. The kids have now made 2,365 donations.
"So proud of myself, and I hope whoever gets these will have a huge smile on their face when they see them," said 9-year-old Clayton Rosone.
"I've seen it. I've seen it myself, you know, I worked in nursing homes for several years, it's wonderful," said Lund.
She's proud of the children who weren't required to do any of the artwork.
Mahoney said the children inspire her during a time that has been stressful for many people.
"What I see is a group of kids that are on the right track, and if we can keep it going, we can turn things around, we can get on a better road," said Mahoney.
Tender Loving Kindness is always open to donations and volunteers.