A group of Westmount residents have collaborated on a project they say does more than just help to relieve loneliness because of the coronavirus pandemic, during the holidays.
Seniors from Contactivity Centre, a non-profit community group in Westmount for seniors, teamed up with students, teachers and staff at Selwyn School to produce a music video.
“[To bring] some joy and some hope to everybody who participates in it and everybody who sees it,” said Benita Golden, who works at the centre where a variety of services are provided to the elderly.
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Staff at the school, who produced the project, recorded the seniors and students individually to produce the video of them singing Walking in a Winter Wonderland, a well known Christmas song. The final video was posted online via Youtube.
Seventy-seven-year-old retired teacher, Patricia Philip, one of the five seniors who participated, said she had fun.
“I love giving back to community, I love young people I love singing,” she told Global News.
Philip said she was impressed with the final product.
“They were able to get all of us coming together with this one performance under very difficult circumstances,” she said.
Golden pointed out that one of Contactivity’s missions is to connect seniors with the community. According to her the music video is just one of the many programmes the center has, particularly particularly ones geared to inter-generational connections.
“In the past year we’ve really beefed it up because of the pandemic, and also because of funding from the federal government,” she explained.
Philip believes what the choir didn’t just help to cheer up those who watched the performance online.
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“It was the intergenerational connection that really made a difference,” she stressed. “For several seniors it was an opportunity to break out of the isolation, to feel that they were participating in something meaningful.”
According to Maureen Powers, a staff member at Selwyn House, the music video project meant a lot for the students too.
“There was overwhelming excitement it seems,” she laughed. “Like they were all eager to participate.”
Powers said now the school and Contactivity are planning something similar for Valentine’s Day.