Neighbor News
Quarantine Kindness: Songbird Stay-at-Home Volunteer Service
The Songbird Volunteer Group continues to support the community during these difficult times!
On Saturday, May 23rd, the Songbird volunteer group used Zoom to traverse city and county boundaries to spread their music. The NNJCA Songbird Youth Volunteer Organization consists of musically gifted and talented teenagers who want to spread a message of community and kindness. The Songbird’s latest volunteer service was the Stay-at-home Initiative, a form of entertainment for quarantined senior citizens from the Oak Ridge Senior Housing Center in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. At 3:00 p.m. Songbird volunteers from New Jersey and New York gathered (adhering to the 10 person limit) to sing songs, perform dances, and even play the Chinese yo-yo online.
Songbird brought this happy event about by creating an hour-long program of performances by its volunteer members. Next, Songbird cooperated with the Oak Ridge administration to bring a live, online performance to the residents who have not been able to enjoy visits by performing artists during the coronavirus quarantine. The hard work of all the volunteers paid off with the seniors happily singing along, clapping their (sanitized) hands with delight.
The performance was so successful that Connie Ledder, Recreation Director of the Oak Ridge Senior Housing Center, invited Songbird to continue these performances for the remainder of the quarantine. The Songbird Volunteers are extremely grateful to have this opportunity to establish a new tradition of Zoom events at this tumultuous time. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the Songbirds spread their wings and flew past stressful circumstances, sharing their joy with others.
