Teens Start Nationwide Letter-Writing Campaign to Fight Loneliness in Senior Citizens

Two teenagers in Massachusetts have initiated a national volunteer letter-writing campaign to help seniors combat loneliness as they deal with enforced isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the Southern Illinoisan . Siblings Shreya and Saffron Patel contacted a local nursing community about sending positive letters to residents, and in early April began writing and sending letters there. Mounting requests for letters inspired the sisters to start Letters Against Isolation, and solicited others to volunteer their writing services. The project has expanded to include 1,783 older adults across the United States, who have received 4,162 letters written by more than 400 volunteers. According to Saffron, the campaign has helped some families rediscover the art of handwritten letters in the digital age. Volunteers are sending letters seniors in southern Illinois, and working with the Illinois Commission for National and Community Service and the Illinois Department of Aging to identify seniors who could benefit from a letter, which is delivered with their meals.