GlamourGals Club Connects with Seniors

By Harshan Heer
Copy Editor | The Pacific Times

Senior citizens experienced a day of pampering, as NP3’s chapter of GlamourGals painted nails at nursing homes last month.

This event took place at Pioneer Towers, where 14 volunteers provided makeup and manicures to 15 seniors. They followed guidelines that forbade services such as pedicures, hair styling, or eye makeup, as well as the use of sharp tools like nail clippers or cuticle pushers.

Volunteers doing manicures

The GlamourGals club is a part of a larger organization, encompassing over 150+ chapters in Canada and North America. It focuses on teen volunteering through organized social events with local senior homes by providing them with makeovers and manicures.

Co-presidents Shreya Phabu and Adriel Gantayat organized this event. According to Gantayat, the goal of this organization is, “to build intergenerational connections and combat senior loneliness,” an ongoing U.S. public health concern. 

According to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, “In 2023, one in three adults age 50–80 (34%) reported feeling isolated from others (29% some of the time, 5% often) in the past year. This represents a marked decline compared with the 56% (43% some of the time, 13% often) who felt isolated in 2020, but a greater proportion than the 27% (22% some of the time, 5% often) who reported feeling isolated in 2018.” This is due to a variety of factors, including their reduced mobility and health issues, with consequences including an increased risk of depression and cognitive decline. Social connections—in the form of manicures—are steps in addressing the loneliness epidemic.

“The event went very well. One of them talked about how, as teenagers, we always pick apart our appearance and see insecurities no one else sees,” Gantayat said. 

“It was very fun,” Phabu said. “I liked meeting seniors and I learned important life lessons from them, like not scrutinizing the tiny details about yourself because you’re already beautiful and nothing lasts forever.” 

Gantayat’s reasoning for starting this chapter at NP3 was because there aren’t any volunteer opportunities directed towards senior citizens and homes. Its impact is tangible since senior loneliness is something that these visits directly combat. It is a novel concept to do makeup for them and organize social events, bringing them closer together and connected to society.

Gantyat described senior prom, a future event planned at Pioneer Towers, to be a, “reenactment of a high school prom but for the elderly. There will be a prom king and queen, with high school volunteers setting up, serving food, and managing the event.” Other future events include, “decorating pumpkins, delivering hand-written letters to seniors, and enacting a penpal system where the seniors can receive cards with questions and short conversations with students from our high school,” Gantyat added. 

“Future tutorials will include learning how to do manicures and make bracelets in late October,” Phabu said.