Over 50 residents at Pleasantview Home in Kalona will receive gifts this holiday season from “secret Santas” through the retirement and assisted living facility’s first-ever Adopt-A-Resident program.

Pleasantview Activities Director Renee Hershberger says finding people from the area to adopt residents didn’t take long, “It was so amazing and very humbling the way the public and community came together.  In this COVID incident, they all wanted to reach out and help us but just didn’t know how. So when they saw this on our website and Facebook page, they called and emailed me wanting to know what they could do. People were just very generous”

In the past, Hershberger says Pleasantview CNA’s would adopt residents, but with the extra stress for employees brought on by the pandemic, they decided to open  “adoptions” to the general public. Hershberger says people are still welcome to donate gifts to the residents, who will receive their presents Christmas morning.

According to the Iowa Department of Health state dashboard, 15 positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed over the last two weeks at Pleasantview Home, bringing their total 34.