A "Create-A-Sweater" Pin-Up is decorated with crayons and tissue paper

Seeing how students and schools have collected the majority of sweaters with the most enthusiasm these past few years, we reconfigured S4S this year.

Sweaters for Seniors got a new mission, a new logo and a new tagline: “A youth based collection to warm Atlanta’s seniors.”

Finally, after months of planning, last Monday marked an important milestone in the history of  “Sweaters For Seniors!”

Various art supplies used to "Create-A-Sweater" at JC Magill

It was the day Principal, Crystal Collins invited us (AHCS) into JC Magill Elementary for her school’s collections to begin!

And not just sweater collections, but monetary ones, too.

Students at JC Magill have signed on to our  “Create-A-Sweater” pin-up program. They’ll color, design, exhibit and sell these pin-ups at school for 1.00 each. Alternative Home Care for Seniors will, in turn, match every donation from Magill dollar for dollar up to $1,000.00. All the funds and sweaters raised will go to Gwinnett County Senior Services, the nonprofit agency that helps seniors in need so they can continue to live independently at home.

As a “for profit” home care agency, that’s our mission, too.  So, of course, being able to collect even more sweaters and raise funds for seniors is icing on the cake. Or should I say embroidery on the sweater?

A JC Magill student drops a sweater in the box

Plus, the program will reach beyond Gwinnett county this year with schools like the Galloway School in Fulton partnering with us as well.

“It feels good knowing we’re able to connect Gwinnett County’s youth with its seniors through Sweaters For Seniors,” says Derrick Merchant, Co-owner and Chief Administrator for AHCS.  “After all – young or old – we are all one.”

Thank you Eric Hurst, CBS photographer for coming out to interview us and get it on tape. This is the 3rd year that CBS Atlanta has helped us get the word out about “Sweaters” thanks mostly to anchorperson, Tracye Hutchins. (You really must catch her morning show, Better Mornings! But I digress.)

Shown left to right: Eric Hurst, CBS Atlanta, Crystal Collins, JC Magill, Sharna Fulton, Alternative Home Care For Seniors

Also, we can’t thank Principal Collins enough for being the visionary leader in education that she is. Collins’ school recently partnered with ArtsNow, a nonprofit organization that encourages integration of creativity and the arts into the daily curriculum of GA Schools.  With the help of Pamela Millice, CEO of ArtsNow, Collins set-up an impromptu art table while we we were there. As Collins was interviewed on camera by CBS, her students were busy, in the background, creating some very beautiful and original artwork on their “Create-A-Sweater” pin-ups. With this kind of talent and creativity and commitment to community, who could ask for anything more?

Have you ever seen prettier sweaters?

Yesterday, AHCS dropped off not one…not two…but three “Sweaters for Seniors” collection boxes to The Galloway School in Atlanta’s Fulton County.

“Through innovation, enthusiasm, and high expectations, Galloway draws students joyfully into learning and cultivates the intrinsic curiosity and unrepeatable talents of each one,” says the school’s website. In other words, the age 3-grade 12 private school is where students learn to think outside the box!

Now, thanks to Missy Hirsh, Assistant to the College Counselor, Galloway’s students will be thinking inside the box, too this coming fall. They’ll be collecting sweaters to warm-up senior citizens in Fulton County.

Sweaters for Seniors is in its 3rd year, but it’s the first time we’re partnering solely with metro atlanta schools in Gwinnett, DeKalb and Fulton Counties. So, we really appreciate those who have chosen to jump in from the get-go! All proceeds — sweaters and sales from “pin-up sweaters” — will go to senior services in the same county where the school is located.

It’s not as if school administrators and educators don’t have enough to do either. When Missy isn’t helping a student change their schedule, advising a senior on college or a myriad of other duties at Galloway, she’s caring for others, too. Missy often visits her godmother at an assisted living facility in Stone Mountain. (Her godmother is teaching her bridge, they watch NCIS and take walks together.)

Missy’s obvious soft spot in her heart for seniors is one reason why she volunteered to take on “Sweaters for Seniors.” She also said, “This program will give our students an opportunity to think about the needs of seniors in Fulton County.”

According to Steven Hargrove, Director of Events and Marketing at SCS, the donations will come in handy. Senior Citizen Services of metro Atlanta plans to deliver the sweaters collected by the Galloway School with their Thanksgiving Meals On Wheels Atlanta.

3rd Annual Sweaters For Seniors

JC Magill Elementary in Gwinnett County has signed up to be our flagship school. And it looks like CBS Atlanta will be doing a little “Positively Georgia” feature on it too!

Every new or like-new sweater collected at JC Magill will go to Gwinnett County Senior Services. While speaking to Gary Galloway, the volunteer coordinator for GCSS this week at his office, I was reminded how valuable these warm and woolly creations have been the past few years. Gary said we may have even saved a life by providing a sweater to a woman who had no heat in her home.  Can you imagine!

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway! We need more schools to help us out and spread the warmth throughout DeKalb and Fulton County, too. For a Sweaters For Seniors School Activity Kit, please contact  sharna@alternative4seniors.com

Let us help you with the one you love. Introducing Respite Care! Are you a caregiver taking care of an elder parent or spouse? Could you use a break? We now offer individual 4 hour caregiver respite care with 48 hour notice. Call 770-736-7977 for a free telephone assessment.

Do you know a caring entrepreneur? Someone looking for an exciting career opportunity? Earn a thousand dollars when you refer a new franchisee to us!  Alternative Home Care for Seniors is a growing business. And we’re looking for partners who want to grow with us.

The person you refer:

• will have ALL of the new franchise territories available to them in: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennesee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.
• will have the option to negotiate a larger territory either in population or geography.
• will receive unsurpassed training and ongoing support from Derrick Merchant, a home care industry expert with more than 20 years experience in operations and marketing.
• will have the opportunity to launch a successful business venture that is priced within reach.
• will be assured of priority listing on hospital, rehab and other major referral lists with our branding and established name.

Fee to be paid upon qualification and finalizing of the franchise sale w/ a referred buyer. This does not constitute a broker arrangement or offer to sell a franchise. The actual AHCS franchise presentation will be accompanied w/ full disclosure to a franchise buyer thru a UFDD. Contact derrick@alternative4seniors.com or call 770-736-7977 for details.