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Recently, Christine Keddy, Associate Pastor for Family Education and Outreach at the First Baptist Church of Westwood, presented a framed poster of decorated handprints, created by a multitude of Westwood youth, to Lina Arena-DeRosa, Director of Westwood’s Council on Aging. It was decided that the colorful poster will hang in the hallway of the Senior Center at 60 Nahatan Street.
At First Baptist’s booth on Westwood Day in September, youngsters were invited to trace their hand onto a sheet of colored paper and then decorate the handprint using a variety of markers, stickers, glitter, and other decorative items. It was explained that the handprints would be assembled into a framed poster that would be donated to the Westwood Council on Aging as a greeting from Westwood youth to Westwood seniors.
The activity combined the idea of intergenerational relationships with the fun of creating something artistic. The kids, ranging from pre-K to teenagers, produced approximately 100 colorful and highly original handprints, a number of which included messages of love to the seniors. Assisting in the booth were adult volunteers from First Baptist as well as several of the youth who regularly participate in the church’s Kids in the Kitchen program, held on early release Wednesdays.
Later in the fall, several volunteers assembled the handprints and framed the resulting poster, which features a central circle of hands surrounding a pink heart. A card at the bottom of the poster explains, “Made with Love by the Youth for the Seniors of Westwood, Westwood Day, September 29, 2018.”
