COLEMAN, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For Cody Barden and his husband Zak, providing older adults with joy is one of the many things that makes Christmas Special.
“It’s heartwarming,” Barden said.
The two own the Coleman business BloomHouse23. Throughout the holiday season they collect donations for a program that culminates with a Christmas day giveaway.
“Second annual Sponsor an Elder program,” Barden said. “20 dollar sponsorship is all it costs. You can sponsor one, you can sponsor 10, it doesn’t matter. That gets your name on a tag for one of our arrangements. That arrangement is then donated to elders in nursing homes on Christmas morning.”
In the program’s inaugural year, the Bardens collected 201 donations. They matched that, totaling 402. This year the number skyrocketed.
“This year we had 405 sponsorships- double- and then with our match we had 810 sponsorships go out,” Barden said.
It was a welcome surprise to see the support.
“This has been a community effort- I want to stress that,” Barden said. “18 families helping us deliver to all 12 nursing homes.”
“It’s better giving gifts than getting gifts like I love giving gifts,” Volunteer Mya Galbraith said.
Volunteer Maya Galbraith gave some insight into what it was like when she participated in handing out the flowers last year.
“When we delivered them we got to see all the smiles on their faces and we got to see some stories,” Galbraith said. “Some of them were sad how they’re there, some were exciting and I just liked seeing smiles on their faces.”
A sentiment Zak and Cody share as well.
“It’s tear jerking,” Barden said. “We have had people say “Oh my God I haven’t ever received a gift like this in all the years I’ve been here.”
The two even received donations from states all over the country. They hope to turn it into their new Christmas tradition.
“One day we hope to have children ourselves whether it’s fostering or adoption, and we want to instill the love for elders in our children and bring them with us,” Barden said.
To learn more about the Sponsor an Elder program, click here.
