Christmas miracles were bestowed far and wide this year thanks to national kindness initiative, Carepack, with 42,000 care home residents across the island of Ireland receiving gifts and cards from generous strangers.
“One gentleman told me that the first year he watched the presents coming every day, worried he would not get one, until his arrived. He was amazed,” recalls Carepack’s founder Geraldine Monaghan, speaking of a recent visit to a nursing home in Waterford.
“It was amazing to go down to Waterford and to meet the residents and to hear about their Carepack experiences. One lady we met told us that since her husband died a few years ago, she has not had a present at Christmas unless from staff.
“They cannot get over the kindness of complete strangers, and from people that they may never have any contact with.”
Making the world a less lonely place
While Carepack is now a hugely popular initiative across all 32 counties, the concept was established and tested near Geraldine’s home in the village of Caherlistrane. The initial idea for Carepack stemmed from a news feature on the reality of life for nursing home residents during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
“I began thinking of the people in the nursing homes who did not have anyone waiting to talk with them through a window. The residents whose only interaction outside of staff and residents in the home would be to chat with someone else’s visitor in the hallways,” said Geraldine.
Spurred into action
This empathy spurred Geraldine into action, and she reached out to nursing homes in the surrounding areas of Corrandulla and Tuam to see if there were residents open to receiving a letter from a nearby well wisher.
Armed with a handful of names, Geraldine posted the details on Facebook asking if anyone would be interested. Overnight the post received over 100,000 views, with Geraldine receiving hundred of messages from strangers based all over the country.
Instead of public appetite waning when the supply of names dried up, the opposite happened. Shortly after IT wizard and Galway city native, Stephen Griffin joined Geraldine in Carepack’s management team and between the efforts of these two angels, Carepack continues to grow.
Postal heroes
By the end of 2023, Carepack matched close to 100,000 residents in care homes across Ireland to a willing anonymous friend. The initiative has been supported by An Post, with the postal service offering free post for Carepack parcels (weighing under one kilogram ) and letters for the entire year.
Both Geraldine and Stephen work full time, juggling the massive amount of time Carepack requires with their careers and being parents, and are driven by their desire to connect people and bring some light to those who need it.
“It is kind of becoming its own beast,” said Geraldine with a laugh, “but it has been amazing and people are so good.
“What I like about it is that it is entirely a free service. Nursing homes sign up for free, volunteers give up their time for free and thanks to An Post, it is free to post your Carepack. It is entirely within your own control and even the smallest thing to get in the post, these are things that residents would have grown up getting and we often take getting post, or a letter or a card for granted, but it means the world to the residents.”
