With older Americans cut off from physical interaction with friends and loved ones due to being high-risk for COVID-19 coronavirus infection, a Cleveland-based non-profit organization is ramping up its efforts to help them feel the love.
Love For The Elderly, founded by Jacob Cramer in 2013 when he was just 13 years old, aims to quite simply help people love and feel loved by inviting people to share handwritten notes that the organization collects and passes along to senior Americans living apart from family.
The idea came to Cramer after his grandfather passed away when he was just 10 years old.
"For any 10 year old, or anyone really, I think grief and loss is really hard, so I wanted to do something, so I started volunteering," Cramer told 3News over FaceTime.
"It was there that I realized, through no fault of the long-term care system, that a lot of seniors that were residents there felt super lonely and isolated. I would get told, 'Jacob, hey, I haven't had visitors from my family or friends in months.' And I thought of my own grandparents."
According to data compiled by the AARP's Connect2Affect program, more than 8 million adults age 50 and older are affected by isolation, under normal circumstances.
The organization reports that the health risks of prolonged isolation are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
After seeing the reality of those statistics firsthand, Cramer realized he wanted to reach more people than he could in person, and started sitting down and writing love notes.
Fast forward to today, and Cramer, now 19 and a sophomore at Yale, is running operations from his family's home in Northeast Ohio, at at time when his mission is more important than ever.
"Right now my non-profit is really tying to just push out as many letters of love as possible," Cramer told 3News, of how the COVID-19 coronavirus has impacted the organization.
"We have other programs as well, but I think right now it's so important that even though we are social distancing, that doesn't mean that anyone has to feel alone," he said.
"I think we can all do a better job of embracing people from afar."
Cramer also shared that his group is taking every precaution when it comes to sharing mail with elderly people, to ensure the letters don't contribute to spread of COVID-19.
Upon receipt, the group removes each handwritten note from its original envelope and waits the requisite number of days before packing many together and sending a single, large package with notes to places where seniors are living.
People wishing to share love and support with older Americans can send letters to:
Love For The Elderly
P.O. Box 24248
Cleveland, Ohio 44124
To find out more about Love For The Elderly, visit the organization's website here.
