5-year-old breaks piggy bank to buy cake, gifts for nursing home residents on New Year's

Hundreds of nursing home residents in New York were surprised after receiving handmade cards for New Year, thanks to a 5-year-old girl. Aryana Chopra, who hails from Vestal, New York, might be young but she knows enough to understand that elderly people have been having a hard time during the Coronavirus pandemic. Aryana spent her winter vacation making handmade cards wishing elderly people a good 2021. "I just wanted to cheer them up because they cannot meet their friends and family because of the Coronavirus," Aryana told Good Morning America. "I decorated my cards with writing and colorful drawings."

Aryana's mom said the little girl had the idea on her own. She saw the 5-year-old making a bunch of cards one day and was intrigued by what she was doing. When asked about it, Aryana replied that she wanted to send wishes in the form of handmade cards for residents of a local nursing home. "In my mind, I thought that I could make a few cards for the people in the nursing home to cheer them up," said Aryana, reported WBNG. "She's made a hundred twenty now and she's going to go up to two hundred. I was so touched that at this small age she's trying to do as much as she can without getting anything in return," said Aryana's mother Shachi. The girl's mother contacted the local nursing home to find out how many people lived there. When told there were 200 people, the number didn't bother Aryana as she went about creating the cards. "I asked Aryana, ‘Can you make 200 cards,’ and she said, ‘Oh yes I can,'" recalled Shachi.

After she completed making the 200 cards, she wanted to do more for them. She decided to break her piggy bank to buy residents a New Year's cake as well as a decorative Santa Claus and a vase, said the five-year-old's mother. The girl's mother was overwhelmed by Aryana's gesture. "My heart actually melted," said Shachi. "She has such a kind heart and really wants to be generous. I was amazed by her thinking." Shachi delivered the cards and the gifts to the residents of the nursing home. Aryana and her family were sent pictures of residents reading their cards with smiles on their faces.  

Aryana wants to keep in touch with the residents of the nursing home and is hoping she can visit them in person as soon as it is safe to do so. "I want to go meet them in the nursing home and see how they feel after seeing my 200 cards," said Aryana. CDC has stated that elderly people are at more risk when it comes to Coronavirus. "Older adults are at greater risk of requiring hospitalization or dying if they are diagnosed with COVID-19. As you get older, your risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 increases," states the CDC. "People in their 50s are at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 40s. Similarly, people in their 60s or 70s are, in general, at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 50s. The greatest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 is among those aged 85 or older."

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