WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Students from Jersey Shore Senior High School spent all day visiting nursing homes in central Pennsylvania. The students belong to the Jersey Shore Future Business Leaders of America and have been working on the "Making Seniors Smile" project throughout the school year.
"Our community service project is called the 'We Shore Care Project,' —as a play off of Jersey Shore—so, 'We Shore Care.' This year our focus was to make seniors smile," said Samantha Machmer of Jersey Shore.
"We are here to give the grant money that we collected through our We Shore Care Project, and that is a project we have been doing for three years now, and this is the first year we have done it for senior care facilities," said Robert Parker of Jersey Shore.
Students visited three nursing homes in Clinton and Lycoming Counties. Newswatch 16 was at the second stop at Williamsport Home in Billtown. All three nursing homes recently applied for a $500 grant to use for supplies and other resources during the pandemic.
"All three facilities applied for these grants, and then we surprised them with triple the amount they actually applied for," said Machmer.
"Being able to give back to our communities is what we are really striving to do here, and to exceed that $500 grant limit is just overwhelming and super wonderful for us, and we are very happy we could do that," said Parker.
Not only did students pass out a big check, but they also brought flowers and crossword puzzles for those living at the home.
"Being able to put smiles on their faces and really brighten the mood in such tough times right now when they are not able to see their families as frequently as they'd like to, so it is a really good thing we are doing, and I'm very glad to be a part of it and glad that our school could initiate something like this," said Parker.
Students involved in the We Shore Care Project tell Newswatch 16 they have raised over $11,000 combined this school year for all three nursing homes.