Wellness bag success

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

The Wheatland Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is bringing back wellness bags for seniors, a program that was launched last year.

The program is designed to help seniors manage and get through the winter, as well as any potential feelings of isolation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Wheatland FCSS CAO Lynn Walker said based on last year’s response to the bags, they made a noticeable impact for the clients who received them through the winter. 

“So, we thought we had to try something that would help them along that will give them something to do that will keep their mind active, that will keep their mind off the whole COVID-19 situation,” said Walker. “We came up with these wellness bags. We went around and found as many different things that they could do that would distract them from the day-to-day and just give them things that would inspire them and move them along.”

Wheatland FCSS put together 100 of the wellness bags last year, as that was what was required for the resident clients in the rural community. Walker added that as word spread, the team was notified that Strathmore residents were also interested in the program.

This year, the Wheatland FCSS team put together 300 wellness bags for local seniors to help them through the winter.

“The bags are for different activities and whatnot that the seniors can do just to perk them up and to brighten their days as they move through this very depressing season of the year,” said Walker. “It has morphed and it has proven its effectiveness and I think our seniors, after this year, will be to the point that they are going to be looking forward to getting these bags to help them through the winter.”

The bags are packed full of recipes, a plant pot, paints, crayons, playing cards, word searches and a library card, among a pile of other things for the seniors to do and enjoy.

Wheatland FCSS, according to Walker, has been working on getting donations and purchasing materials for the bags since Thanksgiving and is ready to get them out to clients.

“It shows that it doesn’t take much from our part to make a difference in their lives. It just takes that little bit of thought from all those different participants and something they can contribute that would spark interest in a senior,” said Walker. “If we can see the impact that it makes and it’s a positive one, we certainly will look to do this again moving forward.”

The plan is to continue creating the wellness bags on an annual basis. The aim is to have all the bags delivered to clients by the end of January.