Two students at Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills are on a mission to uplift older Long Islanders through the Japanese art of paper folding.
Seniors Riddhi Das and Arjun Airen are the co-founders of Paper Parcels, an organization that teaches younger students how to make different pieces of origami -- ranging from sea life to shamrocks -- and assists them in making personalized cards. The items are then gifted to elderly residents at local senior living facilities.
Das said she was inspired to start Paper Parcels last year after seeing how happy it made her grandmother, Rita, when she gave her gifts during her grandmother's visits to Long Island from India.
"I've always wanted to get closer with her, because she lives in India half the time, and with us the other half," Das, 17, said. "To do that I would sometimes give her little gifts like origami. Just seeing how happy it made her, I wanted to give that joy ... to others, especially those in senior homes."
To launch the organization, Das and Airen said they raised more than $400 for supplies last year through the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. They then received permission to begin conducting a series of origami workshops last school year at Vanderbilt Elementary School in Dix Hills, with the finished pieces later being delivered to senior citizens at Sunrise of Dix Hills.
In total, the children created more than 150 pieces of origami and 100 personalized cards, Das said.
The organization has also hosted summer workshops to teach older residents how to make origami themselves.
"The seniors lit up every time they came," said John Erikson, the former activities and volunteer coordinator at Sunrise of Dix Hills. "It was a great intergenerational program. Residents, regardless of whether they were able to do the motions, were having fun with the group learning how to do it. They brought purpose and meaning to them when they came. They became like friends."
Paper Parcels is currently expanding to all of the elementary and middle schools within the Half Hollow Hills Central School District, Das said. In addition, Das and Airen recently recruited students from Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, who will host workshops to help children make origami creations for seniors at Sunrise of Plainview.
"I believe that Paper Parcels is more than just a community project; it's a bridge between generations, mending the disconnect created by digital devices," Airen, 17, said. "It's been incredibly rewarding to see the impact we've had so far. The kindness and creativity fostered by Paper Parcels is something I believe can make a lasting difference in our communities."