Hospital: Five Ideas for Hospitalized Veterans this Thanksgiving

Five Ideas for Hospitalized Veterans this Thanksgiving

Fall is a glorious time of year for us to count our blessings. Many of us look forward to spending Thanksgiving with family and friends, enjoying one another’s company and an abundance of food.

Take a moment and think about how you would feel if you spent that day alone in a hospital room.

Doctors and nurses would come by, but how much would it mean to you if someone visited to let you know they were thinking of you?

Here are five ideas to let veterans and/or their spouses in medical facilities (VAs, local hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) know you’re thinking of them this Thanksgiving:

• Bring thank you cards to veterans to thank them for their service. Don’t forget the spouses! They, too, sacrificed and we should be thankful to them as well.
• Crafts aren’t just for kids! Visit a medical facility that serves veterans in your community and plan to make a simple Thanksgiving craft with them. Go to the VFW Auxiliary Pinterest page “All About Fall/Thanksgiving” for ideas such as Toilet Paper Roll Turkeys, Gratitude Trees, Apple Stamping, Candy Corn Turkey and Fox Leafs.
• Go to the VFW Auxiliary Pinterest page “All About Fall/Thanksgiving” for some treats that are cute and easy to make, including Turkey Pretzels, Turkey Kisses, Turkey Toes and Oreo Pretzel Turkeys. You can make a supply (it’s probably best to use sugar free chocolate) and give one to each resident or patient the week of Thanksgiving. The thought will stay with them all week so the holiday may not seem as lonely for them.
• Play some games! Add a Thanksgiving twist to old favorites and host Thanksgiving Bingo, Turkey Bowling (with paper cups, not frozen turkeys!), Pumpkin Ring Toss, Turkey Trivia, Pin the Feather on the Turkey and more! Go to the VFW Auxiliary Pinterest page “All About Fall/Thanksgiving” to see examples of these games and more!
• Plan a Thanksgiving dinner at your meeting place for veterans in a local medical facility. Contact the director or administrator to see if they have the staff and ability to transport them to your meeting place. That might be more involved, but oh, how they will enjoy the outing and fellowship with VFW and Auxiliary members.

Any of the above gestures are sure to brighten a veterans’ day and remind them that they are not forgotten this Thanksgiving.