SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The residents at the Vista Village Senior Living Center had a few special visitors join them earlier this month. Members of the Cal State San Marcos volleyball team took a break from their busy schedules to bring a bit of fresh air to the seniors.
The Cougars have been visiting Vista Village for three years, stopping by once a month during season and twice a month during the off-season.
"The words, there are not enough, some of these people have no one, so when anyone takes the time to visit and spend time with them it's a blessing," said Vista Village Vibrant Life Director Debbie Kavanaugh. "Then when young people take the time out of their day to hang out with them, it is quite special, so thank you to all that come and visit."
After checking in to see how everyone was doing, the student-athletes were immediately pulled into learning a bit of line dancing from one of the residents. Following that activity, sophomore
Ashley Kaylor led everyone through a series of chair exercises to get everyone's blood moving.
It was then time for some balloon fun where the student-athletes and the seniors swatted the balloon around in attempts to keep it off the ground.
Everyone worked up an appetite, so one of the Vista Village's employees baked some Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookies that the student-athletes passed out. Junior
Morgan Willis read a short story from "Chicken Noodle Soup For The Soul" while everyone snacked.
Senior
Taylor DeGraaf joined freshmen
Lauren Lee and
Haley Montgomery in the "Generation" wing that houses men and women who have Alzheimer's. The trio visited, listened to music and tossed a beach ball with the seniors.
Prior to leaving, the student-athletes went around and gave hugs to all the seniors. One senior was heard saying "So enjoyable… Like beyond what I can express" as the student-athletes were saying goodbye.
"I am blessed that as a team we have this opportunity to make a difference in our community," Lee said. "Both times we have gone this year, I have worked with the people with dementia and although it is hard it, they totally light up when we walk in."
