MPMS ‘Gilmore Givers’ volunteer with Hy-Vee Pharmacy for ‘pay it forward’ week

The elves were hard at work at the Hy-Vee Pharmacy in Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Green, red and white Mason jars stood ready to be decorated as Santa Clauses and snowmen - with feathers, felt, buttons and sparkles. Glue guns were hot and ready.

The decorators were not actual elves. They were the Gilmore Givers, a Mt. Pleasant Middle School club designated to give back by visiting with residents at assisted living centers and volunteering around the community. The Mason jars they decorated were holiday gifts for the 33 residents at Savannah Heights as a part of Hy-Vee Pharmacy's four-day 'pay it forward” event from Monday, Dec. 17 to Thursday, Dec. 20.

'This is what my girls love to do - craft and give back,” club sponsor and middle school teacher Julie Gilmore said. 'It's nice to watch the girls in action and see them outside the classroom.”

Hy-Vee pharmacist Misty Edwards, who organized the event, said that making crafts is her 'jam.”

'My favorite thing about it is giving it to people because it's something from the heart. There's no right or wrong way to make it,” Edwards said as she watched the Gilmore Givers turn the Mason jars into Santa Clauses and snowmen.

The club members were jolly, singing along to Christmas music, laughing and chatting as they decorated their Mason jars.

Aaeriona Barker, an eighth-grader, joined the Gilmore Givers because her mom works for hospice and she saw the value of building relationships with the seniors in her community. Barker thought she would give it a try.

'It's more fun than it seems,” Barker said. 'Volunteering sounds boring, but it's not boring.”

For the Hy-Vee Pharmacy event, Barker said she was excited to get out of school, more specifically science class, but she was also excited to give a gift she created herself.

Lilian Titus, an eighth-grader, joined the Gilmore Givers because she also wanted to get to know the seniors in her community. Titus said she is a shy person and volunteering at assisted living facilities is teaching her how to engage in conversation.

'They have good stories to tell and good life lessons,” Titus said. 'I've learned new things like life skills, patience, to give back and help out your community in any way.”

Kyli Millard, a seventh-grader, said she enjoys helping people out at the assisted living facilities because it's where her mother used to work. Millard has found that seniors 'always have a sense of humor.”

Millard enjoys being in the Gilmore Givers because it's a way for her to give back to the larger community by picking up trash, meeting new people and sometimes helping plan schoolwide volunteering events.

Mariah Jack, a seventh-grader, said that being a part of Gilmore Givers is teaching her that volunteering makes her feel better about herself. She particularly loves visiting the assisted living facilities and making the seniors smile, Jack said.

'It makes their day, and in this world there's not a lot of people like that,” Jack said.

Alejandra Ramos-Lopez said she is building relationships with many seniors at Arbor Court, the senior living center the Gilmore Givers visit most often because it's within walking distance from the middle school.

'The stories they tell us, we can always talk to them and they are very nice and caring,” Ramos-Lopez said. 'Them sharing things with us is very special because they trust us and just like to talk to us. I just wish them a merry Christmas and happy New Year.”