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Gift drive for nursing home residents underway

SALYERSVILLE/PIKEVILLE – Kisha Sowards is gearing up for her fourth year of Helping Hearts, a fundraising effort she started when she was in high school to ensure every local nursing home resident receives a gift for Christmas.

Sowards, who is now a junior at UPike, has even extended the charity event to Pikeville, serving nursing home residents at Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, as well as at the nursing home in Pikeville.

“When I was in high school, I started noticing that everybody was doing drives for everyone else – kids, animal shelters, etc. – but I never really saw one for the nursing home,” Sowards said. “My little brother has Downs and, when he was born, he completely shifted our view of life, shifting our mindset to ‘how can I help someone else?’”

While she had to sit out one year due to the pandemic, this year will be the fourth Helping Hearts gift drive, serving approximately 230 nursing home residents from Salyersville and Pikeville.

“I have connections with the people who work at the nursing homes, so I reach out to them and ask if they have made a personalized Christmas list for each of their residents,” Sowards said. “They ask each resident ‘what do you want for Christmas?’ and they write down three things. I distribute those lists and collect donations to cover gifts for the residents’ lists not already adopted.”

With most of the Christmas lists ranging around the $35 price tag, Sowards said the lists can be quite humbling.

“Some of the lists are so sweet and some stuff is just heartbreaking,” she said. “A lot ask for blankets, clothes, bath sets, baby dolls, and snacks. We had one ask for potted meat, crackers and a Lee’s gift card. It may just be a button-up shirt or an Axe body spray, but it’s just stuff we as people take for granted and we already have.”

Sowards said with the Christmas lists, every nursing home resident receives gifts tailored to their wants and needs.

“The first year I had given a little lady a bag with some jewelry in it and she had asked for a ring,” Sowards said. “I helped her get everything out of her bag when she saw the ring, she went, ‘Oh my goodness, you got me a ring! Look, it was just made for me!’ She hadn’t been able to wear rings for a long time due to her arthritis, but this little $5 ring fit her perfectly and that meant the world to her.”

She’s had residents cry when receiving their gifts – all simple gifts – and received a lot “how did you know?” responses.

“A lot of these residents have really supportive families, but a lot don’t,” Sowards said. “Some don’t ever get visitors, so it means a lot to them that someone thought about them.”

Sowards will be joined by a familiar group – the Southern Brothers Motorcycle Club, based out of Morgan County. The motorcycle club has helped distribute the gifts in past years and she said she is excited to get to work with them, again.

“When they first reached out to me and said they wanted to help, I wasn’t sure how they would be received by the residents, but the little women down there LOVE them!” Sowards said. “They go all out, dressing like Santa and just having a big time and the residents love them!”

As of Wednesday morning, Sowards estimated that she had approximately 30 to 40 residents’ lists from Salyersville that still need to be adopted and a total of around 60 residents from both nursing homes, with people able to sign up to buy gifts for a resident by either messaging Kisha Ann Sowards on Facebook or emailing her at markishasowards@upike.edu. A full list of the residents (gender and three items asked for) who still need adopting are available on her Facebook.

The deadline to turn in the gifts and/or donations will be December 20, and everything will be delivered the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. People who have already contacted Sowards to adopt a resident can also drop off the gifts to Brenda Combs at the Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

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