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Walmart shopping trip has become a favourite Heron Terrace tradition
'This resident outing is one of the most awaited programs here at Heron Terrace every year'
9/25/2024
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Deron Hamel
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They came, they saw, they shopped.
Heron Terrace residents loved every minute of their recent trip to a local Walmart, an event the folks living at the Windsor, Ont. long-term care community had been looking forward to for some time.
“This resident outing is one of the most awaited programs here at Heron Terrace every year,” life enrichment manager Sheila Dela Pena-Romero tells S&R Today.
“(The residents) always get excited once they heard the word 'shopping'.”
Once at Walmart, several residents met with their loved ones in the store to accompany them along with Heron Terrace team members and volunteers.
“We are just lucky to have supportive family members who are always on the go,” Sheila says.
Sheila says one of the residents, 100-year-old Audrey, was so excited about the trip she dropped off thank-you cards for all the volunteers.
“She was smiling and thanking all the people waiting in line as they gave way when they saw her with the walker,” Sheila says.
“She wondered what she had done; why people were so nice to her. I just said, 'you look like the Queen, that's why,' and we both laughed.”
Another resident, Bobby, expressed his excitement about the changes compared to his last shopping experience at Walmart.
Sheila says Bobby had drafted a budget and was proud to show off his favourite potato chips and pop upon returning home.
Sheila says the expressions on residents' faces and the joy they get from these trips makes the excursions worthwhile.
“It really feels nice to see their smile and hear their stories about their shopping experiences, then and now,” she says. “We will surely take the residents somewhere again in the fall and winter time.”
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