Crafty Fairmont residents use talents to help Lodi charity
Using their talents to give those in need some holiday cheer, residents at Fairmont Rehabilitation Center held a holiday boutique on Friday afternoon.
Bracelets, earrings, necklaces and Christmas ornaments that were handmade by Fairmont residents were feature in the boutique, and all proceeds were donated to the Lodi House.
“We’ve been doing this every year and this is third or fourth year we’ve done some sort of fundraiser. In the previous years, we did one for Susan G. Komen in October,” Fairmont Activity Director Lisa Sperling said.
Sperling said this year the residents wanted to do something more local, so they decided to donate the proceeds to Lodi House and host the boutique during the holidays for the first time.
“They were on board 100 percent. They were like, ‘yes, lets do something that will help our community,’” she said.
As of 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, the residents were close to reaching their $500 goal with a total of $450.
“I’m very pleased with the generosity of our staff and families and some of the residents themselves buying stuff for the charity. It’s pretty cool. It just means a lot for them to do something that is giving back and doing something with a purpose.”
Ann Fagnani, a 94 -year-old resident at Fairmont who participated in the boutique, was happy to see that her creations were going to help someone else in their time of need. She said she has been handmaking jewelry for three years.
“I enjoy the therapy that it gives us. It’s very enjoyable and it gets everybody together and doing things,” she said. “I thought it was a wonderful idea to donate the proceeds to the Lodi House. It’s gratifying.” Laverne Webb, a 92-year-old resident at Fairmont, also enjoyed participating in the boutique. “It keep us busy and you meet a lot of people, and we can share with each other,” she said, pointing out that in the past they had held boutiques to raise funds for Susan G. Komen, but it was nice to be doing something a little bit more local this year. “I think we did pretty well today, that makes us feel good.”
Peg Thawley, an 88-year-old Fairmont resident, said she was also very happy that they decided to donate the proceeds to Lodi House and really enjoyed making the jewelry. “I loved it,” she said. Lodi House is a private nonprofit organization focused on providing stable and secure environments for homeless women and children. They are dedicated to supporting women in developing healthy lifestyles that will lead to employment and independence.