Creative Virtual Pic Nics at Senior Living Communities Keeps Residents Smiling
It’s warming up and a lot of us are ready for Summer pic nics complete with fresh fruit, potato salad, and your favorite sandwich enjoyed in the sunshine with friends. Right now, social distancing has changed how we throw pic nics for our residents in Continued Care Retirement Communities across the United States. When faced with these restrictions, our team members smiled and said, ‘challenge accepted!’. Working with our partners in Lifespace Communities, we were able to participate in throwing Virtual Pic Nics for our residents. Chef Rivera has the details below.
What is a Virtual Pic Nic? Chef explains.
“It was so nice to see so many different Communities participate in such a great event in which captured all we are doing to keep the morale up for both residents and team members. Our Virtual Picnic consisted of a (decorated) Boxed Meal with a choice of two proteins, and all the great picnic sides: Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, and Coleslaw. Our team put several 6ft tables together were we made lines of boxes and matched them up to the resident’s ticket order. Inside the box, they also had a house-made Biscuit and slice of Apple Pie. The Virtual part of the picnic came in when all the employees went around playing music outside the resident’s homes, dancing, and the residents would have their picnic box outside while the party rolled by. There were also special videos playing on the TV’s for the residents to watch. In the kitchen, I also played some music for our team as they were boxing up the resident’s meals so they could also be part of the fun. We are continuing to find ways to Keep everyone engaged and keep the morale up during these trying times.”
