For Elise Sharpless, being with Mary Kay is more than just selling beauty products.
It’s also about bringing happiness to some of the more vulnerable people in the community: the elderly.
The Shamong resident, who has been with Mary Kay as a consultant since last year, said the Adopt a Grandparent program was created in the Mark Kay community. Sharpless said she decided to get involved with it.
Local businesses are donating sets of hand and foot cream to the residents at Care One in Evesham.
Sharpless said she wraps and delivers the gifts on Christmas Eve with her daughters. This year, 22 people at Care One will receive gifts.
Sharpless solicits funding from local businesses.
“I’m sure most of them have already donated their large portions to charity,” she said, noting each set of cream costs $22.
Sharpless said it is an easy gift in part because it is not scented, so it should not trigger allergies and also, it can be for a man or a woman.
“It’s something from the past that they probably enjoyed,” she said.
And what has been the response from the community?
“It’s been great,” Sharpless said. “I think anything people can do locally, they really enjoy.”
She said she was able to secure all donations last year in two weeks. And the challenging part is finding the time to go to each business, because she has children, a business and other volunteer responsibilities.
Sharpless said she’s rewarded in seeing happiness in people’s faces.
“Sometimes, our elderly community are the forgotten ones,” she said. “I feel like the most rewarding part is just giving the gift.
“It really doesn’t even matter about the gift, they’re just happy with the visit, they’re happy to see children. I took on something that nobody else was really doing in the area.”
She said it’s important for the “adopted” grandparents to know somebody’s thinking about them during the holiday season.
Each gift also has information about the sponsoring business on it.
Sharpless got into Mark Kay because she was referred to the company and become a consultant. Mary Kay sells skin care and cosmetics.
She said she focuses on customer service.
Sharpless can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (609) 351–7754.
She will respond to those interested in paying for kits and needs to know how many, the name of the business and phone number.
