A regular volunteer at the Saratoga Retirement Community, Samika Agarwal (16 | Saratoga, California) cherished the opportunity to build intergenerational relationships with Community residents. As someone with a love of tennis and art, Samika cherished having the ability to bond with and brighten the day of seniors who shared those same passions. Samika would also teach art classes and serve meals twice a week, but everything changed when the country went into the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. Seeing how the pandemic exacerbated isolation for many seniors—as well as the increase in people experiencing loneliness and depression—Samika knew that she wanted to find a way to safely support so many people she had come to know and love.

Shortly after lockdown began, Samika founded Say Smile, an organization aimed at reducing isolation and facilitating personal contact between seniors and youth through letters, phone and video chats, emails, and even online multiplayer video games. What started as posting flyers on social media to connect with senior centers and recruit volunteers quickly evolved into a core team of volunteers coordinating engagement with retirement and assisted living centers, recruiting and training volunteers, and developing an ever-increasing list of engagement opportunities. Today, nearly 250 volunteers have supported residents at over 30 care centers from California to Finland!

Through Say Smile, Samika, her cohort of volunteers, and the seniors they help have worked together to raise one another’s spirits and adjust to life during quarantine. By connecting people from different backgrounds and generations, life-long friendships have been fostered the legacy of thousands of seniors have been shared with people who can continue to tell their stories. Samika firmly believes that our seniors have contributed valuably in the past to give us our present, and it is our moral and ethical responsibility to show our appreciation and help them live their final years with dignity, good health, love, and affection.