It's been a difficult time for most New Zealanders not being able to visit family and friends during the coronavirus lockdown, but Mother's Day is expected to be an especially difficult time, particularly for those in rest homes.
At one Hastings retirement village, staff are gearing up to make the day special for its residents, but they're calling on donations from Kiwis to help brighten up the day.
Village co-ordinator at Graceland's Rest Home and Village, Jo Baylis, has put out the call for donations of flowers and foliage to decorate the centre for a special Mother's Day morning and afternoon tea.
She told 1 NEWS it has been an emotional time for both residents and their families being apart so they wanted to do something special on what's likely to be especially hard away from loved ones.
"It'll be great for them to sit, have a cuppa and talk."
There are about 90 residents at the facility.
"We haven't talked to much to them about it, it's been a really difficult time. They've been isolated for nearly two months now. It's taken a really emotional toll," Ms Baylis said when asked how residents were coping in the lead up to Mother's Day.
"Mother's Day will hit hard for a lot of them."
Ms Baylis, whose own mother also lives at the village, said, "for me, I feel very emotional for the residents that live here".
"Anyone locally can give flowers or anything like that to decorate the community centre," she said adding that some people had already offered up "quite the collection of foliage".
"I feel very emotional about it, very humbled," she said of the "wonderful" response.
However, she said it didn't matter to the residents if the floral display was grand or small, they just wanted to do something nice for everyone at the centre.
Ms Baylis said there were strict procedures in place to make the morning and afternoon tea safe for residents, with no contact arrangements for dishing out food and drink.
Skype and Zoom calls are also arranged for families wishing to see their loved ones at the rest home on Mother's Day, sales and village manager Louise Gibbs said.
Ms Gibbs said so far in lockdown they've celebrated several milestones, including an 80th birthday for one resident.
"We try to do our best for our residents so they feel family from us, our residents are our family."
People wanting to donate can email Louise.Gibbs@oceaniahealthcare.co.nz
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