Each year, our parent company, Pinnacle Financial Partners, designates a day as Make a Difference Day, a day on which they encourage their associates to do something to make a difference in someone's life. This year, the Advocate Capital and Pinnacle Culture Club joined together to create gift bags and cards for the residents at a memory care home in Nashville.
The event was a true team effort! In the weeks leading up to the event, we provided supplies for associates to write cards to our new friends with the goal of spreading joy, smiles, and laughs to the recipients. As a team, we wrote over 200 cards. Other associates ordered and put together the gift bags, which included items like snacks, word search puzzle books, and, the most popular items, teddy bears.
Members of our team visited the memory care home to hand-deliver the cards and gifts, play music, sing, dance, and talk with the residents. The residents and our volunteers really enjoyed bonding over the universal love for music.
Thanks to all of our associates who volunteered in any way to make this event possible. Cord Laster, Business Systems Analyst and Project Manager at Pinnacle Financial Partners, who played piano and led the singing at Barton House, said it best, "We went there to lift them up and 'Make a Difference,' but what they didn’t realize was they were the ones having an impact on me and 'Making a Difference.'"
We are thankful to work for a company that encourages its associates to make a difference and give back to the community not only on Make a Difference Day but year-round!
Watch the video below to see photos and videos from our special Make a Difference Day event!
Here are a few more quotes from our volunteers about their experience and the impact it had on them:
"This experience was the highlight of my day. It was such a joy to watch the residents' eyes light up as we sang and danced. Music is such a powerful avenue to connect with each individual on a soul level."
- Darcell Toliver, Executive Client Manager, Advocate Capital, Inc.
"It was wonderful and made my heart happy all day!"
- Donna Jones
"What a wonderful blessing to spend time with the precious residents of Barton House Memory Care. Our goal was to give, but WOW, the experience that day totally filled my cup to overflowing. We’d sing a certain hymn, and I’d see a light of recognition flicker or a foot tapping along, truly heartwarming. I’m grateful to have been a small part of that morning."
- Tanya Sykes, Learning & Development Advisor, Pinnacle Financial Partners
"The visit to Barton House was certainly a great start to the work week! I think we made the resident’s morning a bit brighter with hymns & a gift basket. It was nice to have Pinnacle & Advocate folks together volunteering on Make A Difference Day!"
- Michele Lipenski, Business Loan Support Specialist, Pinnacle Financial Partners
"...Playing and singing at senior centers is something I’ve done for years (my mother would have me come play and sing at the senior center she works for). When I was younger, I enjoyed it but didn’t truly appreciate it. Today, as we song the hymns, I watched as some of the residents, who some could barely tell you their name, sat there listening then started singing the words to Amazing Grace, Tis So Sweet, Power in The Blood, Victory in Jesus, Just a Little Talk with Jesus, and others. It was like, for a moment in time, Alzheimer’s or dementia was nonexistent for them. Several times, I caught myself getting choked up and couldn’t sing—overwhelmed by seeing that moment of clarity in their mind, the happiness, the joy while singing the hymns they grew up on and knew..."
- Cord Laster, Business Systems Analyst and Project Manager, Pinnacle Financial Partners
“It was meaningful to spend time with our friends in memory care face to face. Seeing the smiles on their faces when they remembered a song lyric, opened their goody bags, and hugged their new teddy bears filled my heart with joy. I'm grateful to work for a company that loves our community so well!”
- Rachel Minyard
