The Mid-Tex Human Resource Management Association donated over 40 gift items to Oakridge Manor for their residents’ Christmas shopping event. Association member, Sheryl Jowers, was looking for a way the group could give back to the community when she learned of the holiday event at the local nursing home.

“I called around and when I spoke to Elizabeth at Oakridge, I knew it was a good fit for us,” said Jowers. Members from the association brought a variety of items, including blankets, home decor, lotions, jewelry and puzzles. “We really liked bringing the puzzles, because it’s an activity the residents can do together with their families,” said Jowers.

The group meets once a month at TSTC, normally to discuss workforce related matters, but their December meeting was special, allowing the members to bring their gifts and later deliver them to Oakridge Manor. The nursing home hosts an annual Christmas “shopping” event, during which their residents can visit the dining hall and select gifts, at no cost to them, to give to their friends and families.

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This event has been held for over 30 years, thanks to the work of mainly one woman, Mary Johnson, who began organizing gifts for the residents after seeing a ministry opportunity when her own mother needed extended-stay medical assistance at Brownwood Care. “My mother broke her back, and needed to be in a rest home, and that’s what started this all,” she explained. “I could see that there were people who didn’t have family reaching out to them,” said Johnson.

Johnson began her work after her mother’s injury 33 years ago to make Christmas brighter for residents at both Brownwood Care, where her mother stayed, and Oakridge Manor, though the cost of gathering so many gifts has caused her to focus solely on Oakridge for the past 20 years. Many of Oakridge’s residents are church members at First Baptist Church.

This year is the first ever to see other organizations bringing items for the residents, with The Mid-Tex Human Resource Management Association and the Brownwood Garden Club lending assistance.

In the past, it’s been Johnson alone, with the help of her Sunday School class at First Baptist Church, which donates money to purchase gift items. Johnson works throughout the year to gather the gifts, and makes several deliveries to Oakridge during the week before the shopping event with help from her fellow Sunday School classmates. The class members also stay to help guide residents, assisting with their “shopping,” as well as wrapping their selected gifts.

Linda “Butch” Perkins, the Activities Director for Oakridge Manor, says it’s one of the highlights of the year for the residents. “Mary Johnson is phenomenal. She brings such joy to our residents.”

The opportunity to be able to choose gifts to give to their families is truly special for the men and women living in Oakridge Manor. “Some of our residents haven’t left the facility since being admitted,” said Perkins. “So this feels like they’ve done some shopping for their family. It gives them some independence and they love it,” said Perkins.