Bensalem teacher, therapist, and book author Elizabeth Ross has a lifelong history of caring for the welfare of others. She wants to ensure that everyone feels appreciated, especially during the upcoming Christmas season.
This great desire inspired her to create the “The Caring Kids Christmas Card Project” 17 years ago. Today, she estimates that she’s delivered nearly 28,000 cards to lonely people in nursing homes, retirement communities, and hospitals while teaching valuable lessons in empathy to local schoolchildren.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, about 60 percent of nursing home residents receive no regular visitors.
Ross witnessed this statistic firsthand as a longtime volunteer at local retirement communities and nursing homes, where she engaged seniors in wellness activities
Ross learned a lot about adjusting to new environments in her young life. Born in Virginia, and one of six children, her family moved “every few years” as her father was an airline pilot.
“We lived up and down the East Coast because of dad’s job,” she said. “It taught me a lot of about adjusting to new environments and meeting new people.”
By 2007 Ross was a Bensalem resident and parishioner at St. Ephrem Parish when she called her parish school and other area schools about joining her in a Christmas card ministry.
She asked the principals if she could drop off Christmas cards – inexpensive boxes of cards purchased at local Dollar Stores – prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, along with instructions for teachers.
The instructions guided students on what to write on the Christmas cards – giving only their first names, along with hopeful messages and pictures for the elderly. The cards would then be picked up by Ross just prior to Christmas.
Additionally, Ross contacted neighboring nursing homes, asking if they would like to receive the cards. The nursing homes would be able to write patient names on the outside of each envelope and place envelopes on patients’ breakfast trays to provide some cheer as Christmas approached.
Both the schools and nursing homes were “very receptive” to this idea, Ross said.
The program has involved St. Ephrem Catholic School in Bensalem, St. Charles Borromeo School also in Bensalem, Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Penndel, Holy Family Regional Catholic School in Levittown and Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School in Philadelphia.
Participating in “The Caring Kids Christmas Card Project” enriches students’ “understanding of the true spirit of Christmas,” said Lori DeVincentis, eighth grade teacher at St. Ephrem Catholic School.
“When the students share heartfelt messages, they not only brighten someone else’s day but also deepen their own sense of empathy. This experience reminds teachers and students that the joy of giving and spreading kindness is the reason for the season,” she said.
Making the cards helps St. Ephrem eighth grade student Cole S. “realize that little things in life can make a big impact,” he said, and fellow student Guiliana B. said she knows the cards help “people feel loved.” She enjoys “making people’s day, especially during the Christmas season.”
Card recipients include seniors at Immaculate Mary Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare and St. John Neumann Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare in Northeast Philadelphia, and Allegria at The Oaks in Bensalem.
Ross said she finds great inspiration in her Catholic faith, as it was handed down by her parents “who were very true to their faith and shared it.”
She remembers her family attending Mass together and praying the rosary regularly, which provided “peace of mind” and taught her to “have faith and trust that God will help us get through things.”
St. Faustina is a favorite of Ross, and she finds great meaning in the saint’s diary and the Divine Mercy devotion, as well as her favorite Bible verse: “With God, all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26)
Ross even wrote a book about famous people who have deep connections to their faith.
She is always looking for more schools to send cards to seniors. Anyone interested in having their school participate in “The Caring Kids Christmas Card Project” may contact Ross at lross44@verizon.net.
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