SUMMIT, NJ — Spreading love on Valentine’s Day this year to senior citizens who may have felt the need for a little extra love in a time of isolation and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic was “Make a Senior Smile,” an initiative created and carried out by two Summit teen brothers and their family. For the second time on Valentine’s Day and a third time ever, the gesture saw donated items from the Summit community delivered with Meals on Wheels to local seniors. Though a Valentine’s Day card may seem minuscule to some, letting senior citizens know they are loved in this fashion has gone a long way.
Seventeen-year-old Rowan Carpenter, along with his younger brother, 15-year-old Sutton, collected donations for “Make a Senior Smile” for two weeks, then brought care packages to SAGE Eldercare to be delivered to participants of SAGE’s Meals on Wheels program, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
“This is a project that I actually started in 2021 during the pandemic, while things were still shut down and before the vaccine totally rolled out,” Rowan Carpenter said on Friday, Feb. 18. “It was a combination of two things. I saw that with my school, the freshmen, and a lot of the newer students who hadn’t been able to make friends yet, were feeling disconnected.
Additionally, I saw, with my grandparents on both sides, that they were also beginning to feel disconnected, because they weren’t able to see their friends as much and go out as much. They were talking to us on FaceTime and the phone all the time, so I thought they were beginning to feel disconnected. Other seniors who may not have as much family obviously felt even more disconnected, so that’s really what inspired this project, because we wanted the seniors to know that someone was thinking about them and someone cared about them.
“When we first did it, it was around Valentine’s Day,” he continued. “In the past, I know some places have brought things in for Meals on Wheels for Christmastime and that sort of thing, but we thought we’d do Valentine’s Day.”
Rowan Carpenter detailed the great effort behind this project, collecting and packaging items such as mugs, cards, candy, socks, fleece blankets, soaps, lotions, etc. He also explained the impact the packaged items have had on seniors.
“We’ve done a lot of social media outreach on Facebook, and a lot of other people have been great about sharing it and spreading the word about it,” Rowan Carpenter said. “We put a collection bin outside of our house with a lid on it. We had our address on the flier and some recommended items, and plenty of people were willing to get those and bring them to us, and then we package them here. So, I would say that it’s actually gone pretty well, and we’ve had some good support from the community.
“I think (the donations) brought a lot of happiness for them and joy, and it shows that someone cares about them,” he continued. “I know Amy, the coordinator for some of the programs such as Meals on Wheels over at SAGE, she would sometimes send us photos of the seniors after they get their bags filled with treats and they have always had a big smile on their faces. Sutton hasn’t had the opportunity to do this yet, but, hopefully, he will in the future. But during one of the runs we had, I got to go out and deliver some meals for Meals on Wheels myself and I got to bring the bags with me, obviously, and I had a chance to talk to some of the seniors, and that was great, because I got to see the impact it was having. One of them talked about how he heard that these bags were being delivered and he couldn’t wait to get his, and he was very excited to get it. Amy said she was receiving phone calls from the seniors, and they were all talking about how appreciative they were of the bags and how much they liked them. I think it’s had a positive impact, and it’s nice to see.”
According to Rowan Carpenter, in total, they’ve been able to help about 120 clients. Rowan says the project is a family affair.
“It’s 120 clients and we’ve already dropped off 98 bags, with another 50 bags that we still have yet to drop off this time, so at least everyone will get one bag, and then some of their clients will get two,” Rowan Carpenter said. “This is absolutely a family initiative and is a collective project between all of us. We all pitch in and help. My dad puts the fliers up on Facebook and gets people involved through Facebook groups and spreads awareness about it. My brother, sister and I help package the bags, and our mom helps us package the bags and organizes all the donations, and sorts them. We’ve had people from all over Summit donate things to support. Anything ranging from food, candy, mugs, kitchen towels and we even had some pieces of artwork that have come in, which I’m sure some of the seniors have appreciated getting, that they can use to put around their home and decorate. We’ve also had a lot of Valentine’s Day cards, which were great also.
“I think (this venture) was great and especially getting to see the impact this had on the seniors and getting to speak with them, I think that was really rewarding and it also opened my eyes a bit being able to go around and see how Meals on Wheels worked,” he continued. “I think it’s just been a great experience and a great project for me.”
Sutton Carpenter also spoke of how he witnessed this experience.
“For me, so far, I haven’t been able to really see how much it’s affected the seniors. What I’ve seen so far are the donations, and it’s been really nice to see how SAGE took the donations and has been really gracious in what we’ve given them. … Also, I’m appreciative of the fact that people from the community are bringing things to us to help us do this project,” Sutton Carpenter said on Friday, Feb. 18.
SAGE Eldercare Meals on Wheels coordinator Amy Stuart described how “Make a Senior Smile” came to be paired with Meals on Wheels.
“Last winter, before Valentine’s Day, I got a call from a woman in Summit who said her son, Rowan, mainly would like to do something to give back to the older adults in the community,” Stuart said on Friday, Feb. 18. “We talked about it and the majority of our Meals on Wheels clients are isolated older adults. We service a few towns in Union County and serviced about 200 clients in 2021 for Meals on Wheels. I was approached by the family. … Needless to say, our people are always happy to get gift bags, candy, cards — anything to show that others care, because the majority of our clients are isolated adults who the only people they see all week long are the Meals on Wheels delivery people. Small gestures like that mean so much to them, and all of our delivery people are volunteers, so it’s completely volunteer-driven.
“Last year, (the Carpenters) approached me and I said great. I never say no to any organizations or individuals who’d want to do something for our clients,” she continued. “They wound up getting such an array of items that it was incredible. There were socks, Valentine dish towels, wonderful coffee mugs filled with tons of candy — everything was just beautifully bagged, and the outpouring of support for them last year was just incredible, and it was well over 100 bags. That was just last year’s Valentine’s Day. They did it again and got another truckload of bags, which was incredible once more, and we were able to deliver all of those. They are the loveliest family, and people who do things like this, you can’t say enough wonderful things about them. The kindness and the time that it took them to do this was unbelievable. They approached me again this year before Valentine’s Day and said they’d love to do this again, and, of course, I said absolutely. They’ve done it again, and now Rowan is graduating high school this year and he is passing the torch to his younger brother, Sutton, so the legacy will continue.”
Delighted to see this happen again for Summit seniors, Stuart gushed about the kind gesture.
“We’ve gotten tons of pictures and the seniors definitely appreciate the thought,” Stuart said. “It just feels so good to be a part of an organization where you’re helping people and helping older adults who are isolated and alone. To have this young student who doesn’t think of himself and thought about how he can help the older people in the community and make them smile — it just warms your heart. It means a lot because it’s coming from his heart. They’re an amazing family, and he’s an amazing kid who will go far in life. It’s heartwarming to know there are people who care that way.”
Photos Courtesy of Fidel Garcia