The Cape Fear Garden Club – Garden Therapy Department volunteers meet with adults at “Elderhaus – By The Lake” Adult Day Care center to provide companionship and group activities of gardening and simple crafts.
Elderhaus participants enjoy social interaction and a sense of accomplishment, and our Cape Fear Garden Club members enjoy working with participants, getting them involved and engaged in fun and social activities. We meet seven (7) times a year, (during the Cape Fear Garden Club year), in October, November, December, February, March, April and May.
In October, November, February, and March, volunteers work together and plan a craft activity for the participants. Craft activities are designed to be completed within an hour. Volunteers assist the participants when needed, but also encourage the participants to do all they can do to work on the activity themselves. Participants love doing craft activities, and they take the craft home. Volunteers love planning activities. Crafts have included making a colorful scarecrow scene for Fall (with scarecrow, pumpkins, birds, animals and leaves stickers), making a beautiful Thanksgiving craft with a cornucopia full of colorful fruit and leaves to honor seasonal harvest, making a perfect craft for their special valentine (heart picture frame and valentine), and making a “pot of gold” with shamrock stickers.
In December, we continue our annual craft of decorating a Christmas/holiday mug with greenery and holiday decorations. It is a committee group effort supplying various types of beautiful greenery (including pine, cedar, podocarpus, rosemary), a variety of beautiful holiday mugs, festive decorations of colorful balls and red bows for the mugs. Everyone is in the holiday spirit, and we enjoy singing a few Christmas songs!
In April, participants have decorated bags with ribbons and Easter themed stickers, to be used with an Easter egg hunt.
In May, we end our year’s activities with our annual event of planting flowers in the outdoor fenced patio. Volunteers bring garden tools and gardening gloves to share, and colorful annual flowers. The participants join in with planting and filling the raised beds and pots with beautiful flowers to enjoy. Many participants join in with the planting, and many just enjoy sitting in the rocking chairs admiring the work.