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Last November, I posted lots of ideas to help your residents prepare for Thanksgiving. This year, I took a different approach. I’m sharing suggestions to help employees at your senior living community celebrate the month of Thanksgiving together.
This is important because celebrating events with our co-workers offers many benefits. These are just a few:
- Promotes teamwork
- Helps employees get to know each other better
- Provides entertainment for residents
- Promotes creativity
- Makes work more enjoyable
These are my seven suggestions. I would love to hear yours, too!
Host a potluck
Early November is the perfect time to arrange an employee potluck. Better yet, schedule one for each shift so everyone can take part.
Encourage employees to use this as a trial run to try out a new dish they’re thinking about making for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s even more fun if participants bring the recipe for their dish to share with everyone.
I’m sure you have employees who can’t spend Thanksgiving with their families. This potluck offers them a fun and delicious meal away from home.
Join a volunteer project
Employees can give back to others as a way of expressing thanks for their blessings. Begin by contacting local charities to learn how your organization can help. Be sure to take lots of pictures at the volunteer event and post them at the nursing home.
If you have a large organization, another option is to do volunteer projects in smaller groups. For example, individual departments or shifts might choose their own service projects.
Decorate for Thanksgiving
Hold a door decorating contest for Thanksgiving. Encourage each employee to pick a resident’s door to decorate (with their permission). You’ll also want to ask a committee of residents to choose the best-decorated doors. Offer small prizes donated by businesses. (Nervous about asking for donations? Check out this post.)
Before you proceed with this activity, be sure to check the fire codes for your state. Some have restrictions on the materials you can use for door decorations in nursing homes.
Wear your thanks
Hand out stickers for employees to wear on their uniforms for a day. Next, invite them to jot down three things for which they are thankful.
Besides being an excellent way to encourage employees to think about their blessings, it also provides a good topic of conversation with residents. Perhaps residents will decide to wear gratitude stickers, too!
Organize a fundraiser
Encourage staff to choose a cause they would like to support during November. Ask for ideas and then take a vote, so all employees feel that you included their preferences.
It could be a donation drive (mittens, eyeglasses, teddy bears, etc.), or you could raise money for an organization. Check out the fundraising archives for lots of suggestions.
Sponsor a coloring contest
Invite the children of employees to color Thanksgiving-themed pictures. Next, post them on a wall according to age categories. Then you can ask a team of residents to vote for their favorites. Provide small donated prizes to the winners.
Another option is to sponsor a Thanksgiving coloring contest for employees. While we used to think coloring was just for kids, now we know it can be a relaxing and fun activity for adults, too. In this event, you could assign different prizes such as the most colorful, most creative, or funniest.
Display your blessings
Put up a large banner and invite employees to jot down something for which they are thankful. You can involve the residents by asking them to decorate the banner in advance with Thanksgiving-themed pictures.
I would love to hear how you celebrate Thanksgiving with your co-workers. Please share your suggestions in the comment section!
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