CORSICA -- The busy rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is over. The generosity of Giving Tuesday, though, is only beginning for the Good Samaritan Society, a nursing home in Corsica.
Cheryl Niewenhuis, the facility's resource development director, told The Daily Republic on Tuesday that the nursing home is participating in Giving Tuesday, a national day of giving at the beginning of the holiday season, with the goal of raising $20,000 to move the nurses station into a private office and remodel the vacated space into a new living area for residents.
Niewenhuis doesn't expect that amount to be raised in a single day, but hopes Giving Tuesday will provide the nursing home, which is not-for-profit, with an opportunity to spread the word about its need for donations.
"We don't know if we'll get much of a response, but it's good publicity for our center," she said.
It can be difficult, Niewenhuis said, to rely on donations to provide anything other than basic services to residents of the nursing home.
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"That's always a struggle that we have, but we're in a very generous community," she said.
Rocky Nelson, the facility's administrator, said the nursing home hopes to raise enough money in the next few months to start working on the project this spring. The fundraising for the project actually began about two months ago, but Nelson sees Giving Tuesday as a chance to boost the effort.
"It's an opportunity for the community to give to the nursing home and the residents, most of whom grew up in this community," he said.
The new location for the nurses station will give the staff at the nursing home the ability to work privately, while at the same time giving residents a new, livable space where they can relax and feel at home, Nelson said.
If the nursing home manages to raise the money and complete the project, it will be the latest in a string of recent improvements to the facility, which is home to nearly 50 residents. In the last three years, the nursing home has made improvements to both its chapel and activities room using money from donations.
"We've been fortunate," he said. "Most nursing homes aren't able to make these improvements."
