Toronto plumber Geoff Burke wants to get seniors smiling over the holidays.
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And he isn’t talking about fixng their pipes.
During bleak pandemic times in 2021, Burke and his wife, Angela, started Smile Drive, an initiative that brings together schools, clubs and community groups to write holiday cards and letters for residents of long-term care homes.
“We try and do philanthropic things on a yearly basis,” said Burke.
“And obviously at the time (in 2021 during COVID) people living in long-term care were really going through the ringer, and it was quite a lonely time, especially with no one being allowed to visit. So we thought people could really use a smile, if you will.”
In its first year, Smile Drive received an outpouring of letters from schools, clubs, and community groups — enough to give one to each resident at 16 long-term care homes.
And since 2021, Burke has collected over16,000 letters, cards and drawings to deliver to isolated seniors during the holidays.
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“It’s not that we’ve maxed out by any means, but we’ve reached a lot of long-term care homes across the city,” he said.
“On average, about 5,000, 6,000 cards a year. That covers a lot of homes. So we’d like to be in that same 5,000, 6,000, 7,000-card range (this year) just to make sure we can cover all those homes.”
Burke said the response from the seniors has been overwhelmingly positive, with each long-term care home program coordinator rolling out Smile Drive in their own way.
“Residents will do a show and tell time, so they each share their cards with each other,” he said. “Or they bring them to the cafeteria, for example. The homes themselves will do small displays of all the cards.
“And then in terms of feedback from the kids of the residents of these homes — the kids are 50, 60-years-old sometimes — but they say it is really a lonely time in these homes, especially around the holidays, and the people living there love these little cards,” added Burke.
Burke and his wife’s six-year-old daughter’s school have also participated in making cards for Smile Drive. Their three-year-old son will start this year.
Smile Drive started collecting this holiday season’s contributions at the beginning of November and will deliver them to long-term care homes in the week or two leading up to Christmas.
Anyone who wants to participate can reach out by email: [email protected]