Seniors in isolation given iPads and tech to connect with families

A group of Bonnyville businesses and residents have stepped up to provide the seniors in care at Extendicare added digital options to connect with their families last Thursday.

Express Pizza Plus, Ducharme Motors, Ross and Sylvestre, Home Hardware, and Tim Hortons, donated $1000 each and Hawk I’s Cold Beer and Liquor, and RE/MAX Bonnyville Realty $500 each to acquire eight iPads for the Bonnyville Resident Council, a non-profit that assists residents of the Extendicare facility.

Two Samsung tablets were also donated to BonnyLodge residents as part of the community initiative.

Community champions Odessa Straughan and Kayla Blanchette, as well as lead fundraiser Chad Colbourne, were able to secure the donations within days.

“We saw the opportunity to do something beneficial in our community, and we came together to make it happen,” said Blanchette. 

“Our local businesses never fail in stepping up when there’s a need, and I think I speak for all of us when I say I am proud to be a part of this community.”

With strict protocols in place for both facilities, this donation is meant to give all residents a better opportunity to see their families digitally.

Extendicare residents are currently isolated to their rooms as the COVID outbreak continues. In the last update, 24 cases were deemed active among residents, which had not increased in over a week.

Lodge manager Serena Critch, second right, with administrative assistant Lee-Ann Blackburn, right, accepts the donation handed over by Chad Colbourne, left.