Students Serving Seniors is a new club on campus whose goal is to spend time with senior citizens one night a week at Alexandria Place, an assisted living home in Jackson. Students take time out of their busy schedules to play games and fellowship with the residents there who are able to bring so much light into their lives through this club.
Also called S3, the Students Serving Seniors Club was recently founded on campus by a group of students who have a passion for serving the elderly. Lacey Pourchot, a sophomore nursing major and president of the club, and Delie Moss, a sophomore pre-occupational therapy major and vice president of Students Serving Seniors, started the club and said it was because of their love for serving senior citizens and their dream to have a future career in geriatrics.
“It has been a joy to partner with Lacey in heading up S3 because both of us are passionate about building relationships with the elderly men and women in our area, and this organization gives us a way to share that passion with other students,” Moss said. “In a culture that’s obsessed with youth, we want to foster a spirit that honors and cherishes the elderly.”
The process of starting the club began at the end of the summer. Starting a club on campus requires filling out paperwork, creating a constitution and finding a sponsor for the club. Paul Jackson, a professor of Biblical studies at Union, volunteered to be the faculty advisor for the S3 club because he felt it was a great opportunity for ministry.
Although the name of the club emphasizes that the students serve the senior citizens, many members of the club find themselves feeling as if the elderly are the ones serving the students. Through Bible studies, movie nights and long talks, the senior citizens are able to pour out their wisdom and leave the students feeling inspired.
“One of my favorite evenings was when everything seemed to be going wrong,” Pourchot said. “We could not get the movie we had planned to watch work. However, we ended up having a small Bible study instead, and God taught us so much through the wisdom the elderly ladies shared with us that night.”
So far this semester, the club has held karaoke nights, arts and crafts time, movie nights, Bible studies and, of course, bingo nights. The students meet once a week to pray and to have a Bible study to prepare their hearts for the time at Alexandria Place, and each Saturday night is set apart for spending time with the elderly doing a different activity.
Next month, the club plans to expand to Maplewood Nursing Home. While doing the same activities, the students want to expand and spread their love throughout the community in various locations.
The club has also started an “Adopt a Grandparent” program. Through this, each member of the club will “adopt” a senior citizen and will send letters and pray for them. Through this, each person in the assisted living home will have a person dedicated to praying for them and loving on them.
“Many nursing homes and assisted living facilities are treasuries of love and wisdom just waiting to be discovered,” Moss said.