FALL RIVER – Just three days after launching a Facebook page that lets people “adopt” an area high school senior, over 770 people had already joined the push to recognize members of the class of 2020.
“I wanted to put a smile on their face,” said Loriann Lajoie, whose son, Kory, is a senior at B.M.C. Durfee High School and who kickstarted the group.
Lajoie said her son already had a tough year before the coronavirus pandemic closed schools and forced administrators across the country to postpone or cancel proms and graduations. Earlier this year Kory’s grandmother and uncle passed away unexpectedly, she said.
And, every night for two weeks, he slept in a recliner beside his mother as Lajoie recovered from surgery following her diagnosis with thyroid cancer, she said.
Then, the 18-year-old learned that his grandfather, a resident at Orchard View Manor in East Providence, the retirement home where as of last week state officials reported 35 to 39 coronavirus deaths, also contracted the virus. His grandfather, she said, is recovering. So too is his cousin who recently tested positive for the virus.
“He was looking forward to his senior year, walking across the stage,” she said. “And it was all canceled. So he’s been really down.”
After watching a Youtube video about another “adopt a senior” initiative in Putnam County, New York, Lajoie decided to launch one locally to try to lift the spirits of seniors in greater Fall River. She enlisted help from her friend Karen Keshura Lima, for whom the idea struck close to home.
Keshura was among the babies rescued from Vietnam toward the end of the Vietnam War, adopted by two Swansea residents. Now living in Fall River, Keshura, who has two children in their 20s, credits her adoptive family and community for helping her manage life’s obstacles along the way.
“I’ve had a really good life. We all stumble, but we get back up with the help of others,” she said.
That’s also the idea behind the duo’s Facebook group, named “Adopt a local senior – Fall River MA and surrounding areas.” Parents, family members or loved ones who join post a few pictures of their senior student along with message about the student.
“He is the life of the party and touches the heart of everyone he meets. He values family and friendship above all else,” read one recent post about a soon-to-be Diman Regional Technical Vocational High School graduate.
When a group member sees a student they want to “adopt,” they comment on the post to connect with student’s loved one and learn more about the adoptee. Keshura said participants are showing their adopted senior student support by sending (or arranging for a contactless pickup or dropoff) of a hand-written letter or gift.
Keshura, a graduate of Joseph Case High School in Swansea, assembled college “survival kits” for the two students she “adopted.” She said many people are posting in the group members asking to sponsor students from their alma maters.
“It gives us a focus in a very difficult time,” she said.
Lajoie said that seniors are usually “adopted” minutes after their stories are posted online. Currently, there are more people looking to adopt a senior than there are students whose stories have been added to the group.
By Monday, the group had connected sponsors to hundreds of students from Fall River, Somerset, Swansea, Dighton-Rehoboth, New Bedford and more.
“We’re going on eight weeks, people are getting depressed, thank God the sun has come out,” said Keshura. “For some reason the kindness of strangers brings about automatic smiles. We expect our family to nice to us, but when it comes out of the goodness of someone’s generosity, it just feels so much more uplifting.”
Seniors are missing out on some of the most formative events of their teenage years, she said. It remains uncertain whether restrictions aimed at tamping down the spread of the virus will remain in place come fall; when many are due to begin college.
Many members of the graduating class began life during a period of collective trauma -- Lajoie said she was pregnant with her son when the nation was experienced the deadliest attack ever on U.S. soil. He and his peers are now becoming young adults in another historically trying time.
“They were born through 9/11, and it’s crazy that this is happening to them now,” she said.
So, Keshura said she hopes the Facebook group serves as a forum where adults can show compassion to the students, while adhering to distancing guidelines. Loved ones of local seniors can still join the group, and Keshura and Lajoie said it’s their hope that the seniors receive a note or care package from their sponsors before the end of the month.
And when restrictions and closures eventually lift, Keshura said she looks forward to retiring up her mask.
“Hopefully we’ll hang them up one day and know that we lived through it,” she said.
Join the group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/880670882396531/