ISABELLA STRICKLAND-MARTINEZ began volunteering at the Sunnycrest Senior Living Community in Fullerton about a year ago, when her grandfather became a resident there.
DANIEL KIM WITH KAYLA STEPHANOS AND ISABELLA STRICKLAND-MARTINEZ, DRAGON KIM FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS. PHOTOS BY ALAN WENDELL/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Strickland-Martinez, a Mater Dei High School senior, ran BINGO games, spent time chatting with residents and helped with other group activities. Throughout the process, she watched her grandfather, who had been lonely and dealing with health issues when he moved into the senior community, begin to brighten up and become more engaged through more social activities.
“He had been living alone in his house, and he had a lot of medical issues,” Strick-land-Martinez said. “I was thinking that the medical issues and the loneliness were tying in together.”
She also witnessed similar transformations in other residents.
CAROL DERRICK DANCES WITH SGT. GARCIA OF THE FULLERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Wanting to continue making a difference in the lives of seniors, Strickland-Martinez and her friend, Mater Dei classmate Kayla Stephanos, started the Wise and Wonderful club during their junior year.
“This sounded good to me because I love my grandparents,” Stephanos said. “I love them so much. And I did not get to see them as much when I was younger. One set of my grandparents lived on the other side of the world.”
Student volunteers from the Wise and Wonderful club visited senior living centers and participated in hands-on activities with seniors, including conversation, games, reading, crafts and assisting with scheduled activities.
Then Strickland-Martinez and Stephanos found out about a fellowship offered by the Dragon Kim Foundation, a nonprofit established by Daniel and Grace Kim, as a way to honor the legacy of their son, Dragon, who was tragically killed along with his friend in a camping accident at Yosemite National Park in August 2015.
At the time of his death, Dragon had finished his freshman year at the Orange County School of the Arts, where he and some friends were in the process of designing a program which would provide musical instrument instruction to underserved youngsters.
“And so out of that very painful period of our lives, his mom and I started the foundation,” Daniel Kim said. “We realized there are so many kids that have incredible ideas and so much passion and sensitivity about how to help their community.”
Strickland-Martinez and Stephanos went through the foundation’s competitive, multi-faceted application process, and of the 600 applications, the Wise and Wonderful project was among 63 to be awarded a Dragon Kim fellowship.
Dragon Kim fellows receive a $5,000 scholar-ship to fund their projects, are assigned to a professional mentor experienced in business development and go through six months of training to help ensure success.
SENIORS, STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS AT THE SUNNYCREST SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY IN FULLERTON POSE FOR A FUN GROUP PHOTO.
“We’ve done so much work, and they gave us money to buy things for activities and just basically support our cause, which is to combat loneliness and then bridge gaps,” Strickland-Martinez said.
Strickland-Martinez and Stephanos used the $5,000 to conduct four-day camps at Sunnycrest and Cambridge Court Assisted Living, which is also in Fullerton.
With help from other student volunteers, the Wise and Wonderful camps featured activities designed to keep the seniors active and engaged while bridging the gap between the older and younger generations. Students connected with seniors through storytelling, art, music and the creation of memory books.
At Sunnycrest, Strickland-Martinez and Stephanos organized a pet parade and a prom.
Sunnycrest executive director Melanie Washington said one of the most uplifting parts of the camp was the ice breaker on the first day.
“It got everybody to kind of get to know each other on a different level and learn new things,” Washington said. “And everybody opened up and started sharing things about themselves that we wouldn’t normally have a conversation about on an everyday basis. We learned one of our residents was adopted. We learned that one of our residents actually was a champion figure skater. That was one of the moments that I really enjoyed.”
Resident Carol Derrick, 84, said having the high school students from the Wise and Wonderful Club has been a “fulfilling” experience.
“There’s one of the fellas who came,” Derrick said. “His name is Trent. He was so good with the residents, when we played games or something, he would be there to help them with whatever we were doing. It’s been amazing.”