By Linda Holst, St. John’s Lutheran Home

St. John’s residents felt the true meaning of Christmas recently.

Volunteers Makala Buley and Hetal Patel distributed candy bars to the people living at St. John’s.

Weeks before Christmas, the two collected money from St. John’s employees and their parents.

And they each contributed $5 of their own money.

Dressed in Santa caps, they went door to door delivering candy bars to each resident.

&uot;Some residents wanted to pay for the candy bar when told that we had bought them with our own money,&uot; said Hetal.

Hetal has been volunteering at St. John’s for three years.

She got the idea to volunteer after reading the book, &uot;If I Should Die Before I Wake.&uot; Hetal explained that the book is about a shy girl that becomes a volunteer at a hospital’s cancer area.

Since last spring, Makala has been volunteering with Hetal every Tuesday after school.

From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. they go door to door with St. John’s snack cart.

Their volunteering also includes making visits to the residents with Makala occasionally bringing her dog along.

Many relationships have been formed as evidenced by the hugs and smiles between the girls and residents.

Makala expressed her disappointment our culture because people in a nursing home are not valued.

&uot;Elderly in other cultures are prized for their knowledge,&uot; she said.

These girls say they are gaining a wealth of knowledge from their visits.