Mother’s Day is traditionally a day when families across the country would take time to celebrate their mums, grandmothers and women in their world. Many would drop by with gifts and flowers, honour them with a big family lunch or spend time with their elderly parents or grandparents in care homes. However, it became apparent very quickly that these traditions would be on pause this year.

With elderly residents of care homes already feeling terribly isolated from their families with stringent visiting restrictions in place, many would be feeling more alone than ever on a day like Mother’s Day.

For the second year running, Hillsong Sisterhood in collaboration with CityCare delivered Tea and Biscuits packs to the wonderful women and men at local nursing and care homes for Mother’s Day. Thanks to your generosity, just under 1000 individual gifts were beautifully wrapped with a special note and given to both the residents and nursing home staff in 14 homes across Australia.

This simple gesture reminds residents and the staff who have given so much of their lives to loving and serving our communities that they are valued, cherished and not forgotten.

One of our CityCare staff, Eva recalls, “We went to Wesley Vickery Sylvania aged care residence, home to 72 men and women. As soon as we arrived a number of residents came out to say hi (safely from a distance) and were excited to know more about the gifts. Lesley, one of the staff who has worked there for 11 years, said many of the residents hadn’t been able to have visitors for weeks or they had only been able to talk to family members across a fence while their family stood in the driveway. They were so grateful to be able to give the residents something special on Mother’s Day along with the personalised cards.”

As restrictions ease, it is more critical than ever that we keep caring for people. So, as a church with your help, we will continue to deliver more gifts to nursing homes in the following weeks.

If you’d like to contribute, you can still do so. Your generosity will ensure that even more residents will be recipients of an act of kindness that could well brighten their day.