World Smile Day is coming up during the first week of October, an annual event created by commercial artist Harvey Ball. His slogan was, “Do an act of kindness. Help one person. Smile.” At Bethesda Senior Living Communities, we love this mantra for its positive attitude and its focus on service. We’re a faith-based nonprofit organization, so serving the world—through caregiving and through kindness—is what we’re about.
Ask anyone on our team, and they will speak about the sheer joy they experience working with seniors. The twilight years are bittersweet, but our residents have a ton of love in their hearts and make every day special for us. In return, we work hard to make sure they have everything they want so they have something to smile about each day.
Here are five things we’re particularly proud of in our senior living communities:
1. Dining Services
Home is where the heart is, and the quickest way to the heart often is the stomach. With that in mind, our dining services directors work hard to come up with a harvest of delicious and heart-healthy meal plans for our residents. But dining is about more than just food. It’s also about fellowship, and our residents enjoy getting together in our dining areas and bistros. Our flexible meal times and daily from-scratch menus keep things lively.
2. Community Outings
People unfamiliar with today’s senior living communities might be surprised by how active and socially engaged our residents are. Our residents love to learn and experience new things. From Colorado Springs to Phoenix to Kansas City, our local cities offer much beyond the grounds of our communities, so our activities directors plan a full calendar of trips to libraries, museums, parks and more.
3. Social Life
It doesn’t take an organized trip to have a good time with your friends and neighbors. From dining to date night, our residents enjoy a full calendar of social events. Board games, gardening, trivia nights, art classes or just walking around and enjoying the tranquil grounds—there’s never a dull moment in any of our communities.
4. Fitness Fun
Medical professionals invariably agree that exercise is the number-one thing anyone can do to preserve their physical and mental well-being. Many of our residents enjoy daily walks in the morning or evening, and hitting the pavement for even a few minutes a day rejuvenates them. Our communities also offer fitness centers with an array of classes such as Yoga, Tai Chi, aerobics and Zumba to make fitness fun.
5. The Little Moments
A community is only as strong as the people within it. We work hard to offer all the amenities our residents want, but it’s the little moments of connection that really give us all a reason to smile. Maybe it’s a friendly lunch among friends, or a caregiver learning something new about one of our residents, or a visit from a loved one—these moments are why we do what we do, and we’re blessed to have been called to serve our seniors.
