Making feathered friends

The residents of Crook County Memorial Hospital's long-term care unit (LTC) will soon wake each morning to the sound of birds chirping right outside their windows.

Jaylin Mills and Blakely Gill are hard at work on their FCCLA project: an individual bird house for every resident's room. They hope to install the finished feeders within the next few weeks, and are asking the community for assistance with keeping them filled.

A bird feeder is not complete without seed, of course. While the girls will be hanging their work with plenty of food to get things started, they are hoping to find sponsors willing to help keep the feathered visitors full.

The suggestion for the project came from a colleague of Mills' father, who thought bird houses at the windows would give the LTC residents a little extra something to entertain them.

Mills loved the idea of creating something that would keep spirits lifted and brighten residents' days. With Gill's help, she set about designing a bird feeder that can be altered to meet the tastes of each room's occupant.

"We looked for a few examples online and kind of mixed two of them together," Gill says.

They then got to work making a prototype to test how well the pieces would fit together and that the bird houses would work hung from shepherd's hooks directly outside each window.

The plan, Mills says, is to take the bird houses to the LTC in prefabricated pieces and host a "decorating day", during which the residents can join in with the process of putting them together and then customize them exactly to their tastes.

"We're working with some of the shop classes," says Mills. "We're going to do something so the residents will be able to help glue them together and then paint them."

The duo want the residents to be involved, says Gill, and they want each bird house to feel personal. They are hoping that residents will be able to assist with the regular task of filling the feeders, too.

"We're really excited," Mills says. "I think they'll really enjoy it."

"I'm excited to see their reactions," Gill agrees.

The state convention takes place in March, so Gill and Mills are hoping to complete the project before then so they can share the results with other FCCLA members.

"There are a couple of classes that are willing to help us do them, and then other FCCLA members are pitching in – we'll have a big work day and see how much we can get done," Mills says.

Donations of money or bird seed can be directed to the office at Sundance High School (checks can be made out to "Sundance FCCLA"). Mills and Gill would also love to hear from people or businesses who would like to sponsor an individual bird house.