Spreading Smiles Among Seniors, One Card at a Time

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Aditi Dewangan. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Aditi Dewangan saw a need for connection and, inspired by the memory of her own grandfather, decided to fill it with heartfelt warmth. Her vision blossomed into Senior Care First, a nonprofit dedicated to brightening the lives of older adults in residential homes. Aditi’s simple but profound idea—personalized, handmade cards—has grown into a global movement of compassion. She recognized the isolation many seniors face and created a tangible way for the community, especially young people, to bridge that gap.

To grow Senior Care First, Aditi successfully recruited a massive network of over 3,000 volunteers—including more than 1,600 high school students from around the world—and built a dedicated executive board to sustain their efforts. This impressive volunteer base, alongside her core team of 10 individuals, has become the engine for delivering joy. They don’t just make cards; they carefully process and hand-deliver them, ensuring the effort is efficient and that the impact continues to increase. The organization’s outreach has been massive, spreading awareness to over 1 million people on social media.

Through diligent work, Aditi and her peers have delivered an astonishing over 10,000 cards and crafts to more than 45 senior homes. Through creative door-to-door advertising and fundraising campaigns, they’ve also been able to pay it forward in multiple ways, raising $1,350 for critical Alzheimer’s research and contributing $6,000 worth of items and crafts to the residents. Each personalized card, each donation, represents a moment of connection that combats loneliness and reinforces community ties.

Aditi saw an empty space—the lack of personalized attention for some of the nation’s most deserving citizens—and filled it with a simple yet deeply meaningful solution. Her work ensures that thousands of seniors around the nation know they are loved and cared for. Her initiative proves that a little bit of sincere effort can have a tremendous impact, fostering a sense of belonging and reminding seniors they are valued and remembered.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

My organization is called Senior Care First Foundation. When I started it, there were a lot of things going on in my life. One, I was volunteering at a senior home, which was a huge part of my life. At that time, I volunteered every weekend, sometimes over the week as well, just playing bingo and doing movie nights, or helping out with the caretakers there, specifically the engagement manager. Also at that time, my grandfather died. I think having him gone, having a grandfatherly presence gone in my life, and then also spending a lot more time with the seniors made me realize how much I really enjoy being around seniors. I think then I was going through a pivotal moment in my life where I really wanted guidance from a mature person who I could just talk to, someone who could just talk back with me. So that got me thinking.

Then, one night at the senior center, I was turning on a movie and making some popcorn, and I saw a new face. I sat down, and this guy told me about how his family, his kids, left him at the facility earlier that day, and he probably wasn’t going to see them for a while. And he was really sad. He was very down about that, and I tried to comfort him as much as I could, but it was very clear that this was going to be something in his head for a bit. I think that was the main moment that made me realize that maybe the community should be more a part of senior homes, that these seniors deserve people in their lives who want to engage with them.

The person who helped me start the organization, she and I wrote a couple of cards, and we went to a few senior homes around our area and delivered them. And then I think just with that, it just kept going further and further. We talked about our organization with other people, with a different youth community service group we were both part of, and it kind of just grew from there. I brought it to my National Honor Society, which is very community service heavy. And then it just grew to where it is now.

What inspires you to volunteer?

I’m super happy to have so many volunteers working with me. And honestly, I see myself on the same level as them. There’s no difference because I founded the organization. We all just want to make a senior citizen’s day better. Something that I like to note that is different about our organization compared to others, because I know there are others, are that we handmake our cards and we also hand deliver our cards. So, unfortunately, as much as people ask, we do not take any online cards or digital cards and print them out, because we want to have that crafty part of our cards and also make sure we interact with the seniors when we deliver them. It’s either the volunteers themselves or some of our leadership members who take them to senior homes. There’s more of a human connection being brought when giving the cards.

Tell us more about why it’s important for seniors and younger people to spend time with each other.

I think seniors get a lot out of just talking to people, because they get really bored at the senior homes. There are just a couple of people they see every day, and it’s very repetitive. Repetition and routine is really good for senior citizens, especially those with dementia, but not so great for them socially. So bringing something new to their lives, and showing them that other people care about them and are thinking about them is really important. It just brightens their days. There has been feedback that we’ve gotten from some of the caregivers like, “Oh, I’m really happy you came by. This certain person was having a really hard day, and this visit really brought happiness and turned the day around.”

I think for kids – well, our volunteer base is actually all ages, so there are people 40 years old or more – but for people in general who volunteer, I think they mainly get the ability to be compassionate. A lot of people these days, in their leisure time, they’ll watch TV. But volunteering for any organization gives them time to be thankful for what they have and meet people they normally wouldn’t.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

At the moment, some of our longer-term goals are simply to expand. We want to reach as many people as we can. We are really close to reaching a million people on social media alone, which is great. And I think other goals would just be getting more outreach in news outlets and other media that helps advocates for the organization itself.

We also want to give people help with making cards or making crafts. Currently, for those who don’t have the ability to ship the cards, we help them with that. We want to be able to provide more for those who don’t necessarily have art supplies in their homes. But whenever we get funds from grants or anything, the number one priority is making this thing more approachable for all volunteers.

What have you learned through your experiences volunteering?

I did not know how many logistics go into a nonprofit. Being 15 and figuring out how to register a 501(c)(3) is a lot in itself. Then, forming an executive team and building our volunteer base… there are just so many logistical details.

On the other hand, I’ve learned more about myself and how I like to lead. Our executive team is very collaborative. I don’t treat this team as if it’s a tree, with me at the top and everyone else beneath. It’s our organization. We’re all helping it work.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I think the most rewarding part is going to the senior homes and actually seeing the reactions when they get a card and a chocolate. They love chocolate, and they’re not supposed to have a lot of that! So seeing their faces when they get to have that. And also rewarding is seeing other volunteers having that experience too. On the rare occasion when I do get some of those photos back, I really enjoy seeing the joy in the aftermath of their volunteering.

Why is it important for others, especially youth, to get involved with causes they care about?

I think it’s super rewarding. Not only for them, but the people they’re impacting. Being around the people or places you want to impact is powerful. Being involved is very rewarding. You get to see the impact you’re making.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

Just do it. Just apply for the volunteer role. Put yourself out there. Volunteering is fun; it’s rewarding. You’re not going to regret it.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Aditi? Find local volunteer opportunities.