Vermilion teen lives to serve

VERMILION — Daryanne Elkin has long known she was made for a life of service. Elkin, a senior at Vermilion High School, would "do something goofy" to make people laugh when they were sad even before she was old enough to remember, her family tells her. She loved visiting the residents at the nursing home where her mom works and has always been moved to put people at ease, to make sure everyone feels included. "I've always been a kindhearted person, from what my mom tells me," said Elkin, who turned 18 last week. "I don't judge people and if I see people crying, I try to ask them what's wrong." Joining the Leo Club, the youth club equivalent of the Lions International service organization, in high school was a natural. She looked forward to the club's goodwill missions at the holidays, "cookies and crafts" with Santa or helping Operation Christmas Joy, a Vermilion institution that provides holiday food packages and gifts to disadvantaged families in town. But when school clubs shut down due to the pandemic this year, Elkin knew the needs did not. She knew Christmas would be especially rough on those living in long-term nursing care facilities. "My mother works at Life Care Center of Elyria and I always loved going to visit her residents and bringing them joy because a lot of them don't often get to see their family, and they live there permanently. And with COVID, they're not getting visitors either," she said. And while she knew she couldn't go in person, she could sure drop off bags of joy. Elkin decided to provide presents for every long-term resident at the Elyria facility as well as Vermilion's Mill Manor and Kingston — in all, about 175 people. Weeks before Christmas, she approached Mike Palm, Vermilion High School science teacher and Leo Club adviser, to ask if the club could secure some funds, but the entire project was spearheaded by Elkin alone. Her mom, Kelly, donated $100 to the effort, as did Daryanne, money she had saved from buying and reselling old street signs. She spread the word about what she was trying to do, and started collecting donations. She received financial donations from two people but most came in the form of gifts: puzzles or word search books, toiletry or gift items. A flea market vendor in Tennessee donated to her his entire stock of Christmas gift bags; an antique dealer in Pennsylvania donated coffee mugs. Gifts varied, but included blankets, personal grooming items, slipper socks, candy, hot chocolate, coloring books or puzzle books and diversions. Each included a Christmas card, too. In the end, she estimates she spent maybe $400 to purchase items. 'I wanted to make Christmas special for them in the middle of this very hard time. I know they appreciate the kind gesture from someone, making sure they feel included and not like an outcast or alone," she said. "It gives me peace of mind that they know at least one person cares." It's in her nature to notice the lonely, coming from memories of being bullied and exiled as a little girl by classmates who found her friendly and outgoing personality objectionable. "We're going through a lot, of course, this year. But when you go through all this stuff it's amazing when you see people do things so out of the ordinary," said Koreen Brattoli, community relations specialist at Kingston of Vermilion. Brattoli said she found out about the gifts Elkin donated only after the fact, and was amazed at the generosity of the gifts. "She really, really outdid herself." Elkin has earned a scholarship to Lorain County Community College due to her grades, and plans to start there following graduation, on her way to being a therapist. "I want to be a listening ear and help people work through their problems," she said. "It would definitely be much happier here if everyone in the world would have the same mindset as I do. Not the same opinions as me, but if people were to just take the time to realize that there are people out there who don't have everything they do. I think people should have more empathy for others than to criticize or try to be right." Rini Jeffers can be reached at rinijeffers@gmail.com. Follow her @RiniJeffers on Twitter.