Little gesture - great joy for the elderly

We will all remember the year 2020 for a long time. It will have a lasting impact on our lives and has already given us great challenges in the Erasmus project.

Even if COVID19 restricts us in our public life, we should reduce personal encounters, a small gesture such as a brightly painted postcard and shaped gingerbread dough can bring a smile.

And so the Würzburg City District Association, with the support of the Erasmus project group at the Gustav-Walle-Mittelschule, has found many little helpers to be able to send a small Christmas package to all pensioners in Würzburg.

Pupils from different primary schools in Würzburg from 1st to 4th grade designed Christmas cards and wrote their wishes for the year 2021. Our students from the Würzburg secondary schools also got involved and baked over a hundred colorfully decorated gingerbread figures, of course taking into account the hygiene standards.

So that all the parcels could be sent to Nikolaus on time, hard-working elves helped with packing and sending our Christmas presents campaign.

Since the beginning of the school year, many planned projects in school life have initially been scaled back. The number of people infected with COVID 19 has risen and the first measures of a partial lockdown have been implemented. How can a school implement an Erasmus project during the time of COVID 19 when all contacts are limited and the European exchange can only take place via video meetings? It turns into an elf workshop and works on an Advent project, according to all the requirements of the COVID 19 regulations.

Together with their teacher Eva-Maria König, the 8th grade quickly set up an Advent project. “Despite all the circumstances, we want to at least bring joy and a smile into the classroom,” the group said.

Almost 300 pocket advent calendars were diligently tinkered by the business group (of course, with increased hygiene measures!). On December 7th, 2020 the time had come and they surprised the school family of the Gustav-Walle-Schule: pupils, teachers, supervisors of the afternoon and homework support and the caretaker’s team - everyone got a small Advent calendar. Filled with something sweet to nibble, of course!

The hardworking Christmas helpers have definitely achieved their goal of making people smile! But for the 8th grade students it was more than just a small gift during Advent: With this gesture, the students sent the message that we should think of each other and be happy about the little things in life, especially in these challenging times. "And sometimes all you need is a matchbox and a little imagination!" Says Margit Fleischmann, the social worker at the Gustav-Walle-Mittelschule.