Westfield Girl Scouts Complete Silver Award With 'Art for Seniors'

WESTFIELD, NJ — As Cadettes, Girl Scouts can work towards earning the Silver Award, the highest award possible at this level.

Ivonne, Madeline and Juliana, Edison Intermediate Girl Scouts from Troop 40916, knew they wanted to work with the seniors at the Westfield Senior Citizen Housing because of the relationships they had already built from visiting with their troop since they were in fourth grade.

Especially working with them throughout the COVID pandemic, they saw the need for these seniors to connect with others and try to get back to some kind of normalcy.

After researching ways to combat senior loneliness, they agreed that art is a great way to tackle this issue, and the "Art for Seniors" project was born.

As time went on, it was realized that art has many other emotional and physical benefits besides providing a means for socialization. For seniors, having this type of non-verbal means for self-expression can help with memory, mood, cognitive function and can enhance motor skills and reduce chronic pain.

With input from the residents and the center’s administrators, the group identified visual arts and crafts areas that would be of interest and proceeded to reach out within the community for art teachers and volunteers to facilitate workshops for the seniors.

Over the course of several months, the following workshops were offered for about 15 participants each:

• Jewelry Making (Girl Scouts and mom volunteers)
• Water Color Painting (Margaret Smith, local artist and teacher, from the Westfield Coalition for the Arts and the Rialto Center for Creativity)
• Digital Photography using Smartphones (Girl Scouts and mom volunteers)
• Clay Sculpting (Mrs. Frees, Edison Intermediate art teacher)
• Floral Arranging (Rake and Hoe Garden Club of Westfield)
• Embroidery (Mrs. Lauren Simpson from Urban Sewciety)

The response from the seniors to all these events was overwhelmingly positive. They were eager to learn different art techniques and were open to trying new things, while interacting with a younger generation.

We believe that this project helped improve their overall quality of life by engaging them in stimulating activities and creating a program that they can enjoy for years to come. We want to encourage members of our community to reach out if they want to get involved with this initiative beyond the group’s involvement.

One of the biggest takeaways from this experience was that you don’t necessarily have to be an expert to make an impact.

The seniors enjoy learning new techniques as much as they enjoy teaching what they know and
learning together. The art program will be transferred to the Senior Citizens Housing Activities
Director and supplies for self-guided projects have been donated for the seniors to complete
future projects.

The group also created a step-by-step guide to starting a club or similar program using all the lessons learned during this process.

For more information and to volunteer, you may reach out to randi.kass@westfieldseniorhousing.com.

— Submitted by Gladys Collazo