Communications Club prepares holiday cards, gift packages for veterans at Sims Nursing Home

It's the season of giving at Florida State University Panama City—but for many the winter can be harsh and unforgiving. Perhaps money is tight or they aren't able to see their families for the holidays.

The Communication Club decided to lift the spirit of the holidays by giving back to a community often overlooked in the festivities: The Clifford Chester Sims State Veterans Nursing Home in Springfield. Club members previously visited the home with the Professional Communication program coordinator, Brian Parker, Ph.D., earlier in the year.

Now, they are paying these soldier's sacrifices forward again by having students sign holiday cards and putting together special gift packages for all the veterans at the home. This effort marks the first event the club has taken on under the leadership of its new president, Emily Bowen.

"Dr. (Laurie) Lawrence had the initial idea, and once we heard it, we loved it,” Bowen said. “It was a collaborative effort, discussing how that would look. We knew we wanted to give them the gift box, but we wanted to have a personal message to be able to convey to them as well. So, we decided to do the Christmas cards.”

Because the nursing center is home to 120 veterans, the club set up a table in the Holley Academic Center’s lobby and enlisted fellow students to sign cards and write encouraging notes for the recipients.

“We thought that it would be a perfect opportunity to give students a chance to speak to them, because they may not all have the chance to come and help us wrap or to come to the veterans home with us,” Bowen said. “It would be a chance for the vast majority of the FSU PC students to connect with the veterans and be able to wish them well and Merry Christmas."

Great care was taken in the selection of goodies for these presents to ensure the gifts can help meet the unique needs of elderly veterans. Simple nonslip holiday socks, glittering ornaments swathed in the stars and stripes, Christmas coffee tumblers, peppermint and gingerbread tea bags, and large-print puzzle books and playing cards were just some of the offerings.

"I mean, we definitely had to take into account ... the demographic we were appealing to,” Bowen said. “We thought tea would be such a good thing to add into the boxes because, who doesn't love tea? It's so warming around this time of year. A lot of the items we put into the box are veteran-oriented. Our Christmas ornaments are red and blue with stripes and stars. We have some little veteran tokens in there as well. We threw some FSU Panama City stuff in there, just to let them know where we're from, and we're proud to be from here. And obviously some Christmas things as well. We just wanted to do kind of a little bit of all of those things so that way it could be a variety while also being cohesive to who we are and who they are. "

Lawrence, Ph.D., is a member of the Professional Communications faculty and Communications Club advisor. She said events like these are crucial to helping develop important skills for Communication majors.

"We don't have an event planning class on campus, so this really fills that role. You really learn how to plan ahead, what goes into actually executing an event. So much of PR has become event planning," said Lawrence. "Sending a simple ‘thank you’ like this can really help motivate people. These veterans have taken on that title as a means of self-identification. Gifts like these validate that self-identification and make them feels seen."

Much of the Professional Communication program concentrates on knowing your audience, Bowen added.

"That definitely went into it, being able to know, 'Okay, what would they like in these boxes? What are they actually going to use? What are they going to look forward to? What will bring a smile to their face?'” she said. “That's a big part of it, a level of knowledge you have to have and that you earn or that you learn in the communication program. And then in addition to that, I mean, we learn how to be effective communicators. We learn how to get people involved in things. We learn how to speak to those that we're providing things for."

Bowen strongly encouraged anyone who was interested in supporting this work to visit their local veterans’ centers to help bring some companionship to those senior veterans who might not have someone in their lives.

Those wishing to learn more about the Communications Club may contact Bowen by email at edb24@fsu.edu or Lawrence at llawrence@fsu.edu, or call Lawrence at (850) 770-2249.