The irresistible scents of sugar, butter, chocolate and cinnamon wafting through the hallways at Shem Creek Health Center at South Bay at Mt. Pleasant senior living community are a sign that something very special is going on.
Every couple of weeks, eight to ten residents of the health center at South Bay at Mount Pleasant get together to make cookies that are distributed to homeless people in the greater Charleston area.
The baking program was introduced by activities director Anntawn Green. Shem Creek Health Center provides assisted living and memory care. The health center is part of the independent living community, South Bay at Mount Pleasant.
The residents learned of Green’s weekly volunteer work with Potluck in the Park, a group of area individuals who cook food to feed the homeless every Sunday at Conway Park in Charleston. The residents wanted to help, by topping off the meals with a sweet surprise.
Green was quick to agree.
“I knew our residents like to feel like they are part of the greater community,” she says.
She explains that volunteer work has long been an important part of many of their lives and she wanted them to know that they can still help others.
At the gatherings when the residents bake, Green provides them with pre-made rolls of cookie dough.
The gatherings to make the cookies are filled with chatter as the residents connect with one another and decide what shapes they want to make from the cookie dough.
“It’s good for us to get together and talk,” says one of the resident cookie-makers, Barbara Hartnett. “People from different floors come, and we get to know each other.”
She says each cookie is made with care and its own stamp of individuality.
“Each person does their own thing –some cookies are cut thick, some are cut thin, some are made into hearts and other shapes, but they are all made with love,” Hartnett says.
Hartnett, who previously was a paramedic and professor of emergency medicine, agrees with Green that the program enables residents to continue to give back to the community.
“I saw it as an event on the calendar, so I went down to join in, and that’s when I found out what it is really about, which is supporting people in need,” she says.
Hartnett has lived in assisted living at Shem Creek Health Center at South Bay since December and was in independent living at South Bay at Mt. Pleasant for about a year before that. She says she enjoys the many interesting activities the health center offers. She also participates in trivia contests and is learning to play the ukulele.
Participating in cookie-making and other programs has helped her make friends and added zest to her life.
“We have the most amazing people here,” she says. “Scientists and women who’ve traveled the world. When you get to know each other at activities, you connect with them in a different way.”
After each cookie-making gathering, the volunteers take one cookie for themselves and one for another resident who wasn’t able to help. All of the rest go to feed people in need, and they are happy to receive the taste treats.
“They tell me that they appreciate us. They are very thankful,” says Green about the comments she receives when giving out the cookies.
Hartnett says it doesn’t really matter what the cookies look like; it’s the message of caring that they are sending into the world that’s important.
“It doesn’t matter what shape it is or how it’s cut, it matters that it’s sent with love,” Hartnett says.
