Please give to grow a garden

This tax time, please give to help grow a garden.

‘Life doesn’t just stop when you move into aged care’. Marcie, an 86-year-old resident, told me this when I asked her what she thought about living at Liscombe House. Like many of our residents, she’s an avid gardener and spent much of her early retirement out in the garden.

‘My favourite things were the smell of apple blossom and the taste of juicy ripe oranges straight from my tree. I loved seeing the insects and the birds go about their busy little lives too. It takes you out of yourself.’

This tax time I’m writing to generous supporters like you to ask for your help. I’d like to establish a gardening program at Liscombe House so that Marcie can get back to the things she loves while living in aged care. If you can give $50, for example, you could help us buy a dwarf Valencia orange tree.

Ted is another green thumb who I know would love to get outside and run his fingers through the soil. He still talks about the melons he used to grow in his garden that tasted better than anything he’s ever bought at the supermarket. Ted has trouble with his hands and finds it hard to stay upright for long but that doesn’t matter because with your help we can make sure he’s able to get involved.

A gift of $100 could cover the cost of a lightweight trowel, secateurs, and gloves for someone with arthritis like Ted.

In the next few months we look forward to welcoming the local kinder children back into Liscombe House. I would love to see the residents and children planting our first crops together. I know how much joy this would bring both age groups!

A gift of $220 could cover the cost of 50 seedlings for residents and kinder children to plant together.

As a nurse of many years, I can tell you there are so many health benefits to gardening – physically and mentally. Take Chris for example. He has dementia and finds it so hard being indoors. But when he’s outside he becomes relaxed and talkative. Something about it triggers memories for him and he often reminisces about when he was a young boy helping his grandfather pot up the vegetables and flowers.

If it’s within your means, a gift of $500 could go towards a new potting shed to store tools, provide shelter from the weather, and sit and reflect on the completed work.

When we had those warmer days a couple of weeks back there was nowhere I wanted to be but in my garden. The autumn sun was so warming. As I sat with a cup of tea and the blue sky overhead, I thought of how wonderful it would be for our residents to have the same opportunity.

Please help me make this possible. If you can make a donation today, you can claim it as part of your tax return. We are aiming to raise $10,000 and any amount you can give will help us reach our goal.

Here’s a reminder of some of the things we need your help with:

• $50 could buy a dwarf Valencia orange tree
• $100 could buy a lightweight trowel, secateurs and gloves
• $220 could cover the cost of 50 seedlings
• $500 could help us purchase a new potting shed
• An incredibly generous $700 could cover the cost of materials and installation of a raised wicking garden bed

Thank you so much for your ongoing commitment to our work,

Kerry Feistl

Director of Nursing at Liscombe House

Ps. Please hurry, June 30 is just around the corner.