TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — For the last year, students at Hendricks Elementary School and residents at Hacienda at the Canyon Retirement Community have sent letters to one another. On Tuesday afternoon, the pen pals finally met face-to-face for the first time.
"I have never met my buddy and it was a really nice opportunity to do this,” Jack Brewer, a third grader at Hendricks, said.
They celebrated by giving each other gifts and spending quality time together. For Brewer, he said it taught him about creating community and improving his writing.
"My granddad is feeling lonely and I really want to give him a card and this pen pal writing has really taught me how to do this,” he said.
For resident Dee Cohen, the program brought joy to her day. She's about to turn 101 years old and while she doesn't have young kids in her family, she looks forward to talking with her pen pals.
"When Lily first wrote to me, she said she wanted to give me a big hug and that's the first thing we did," she said.
The school expects to continue the pen pal program with the next class of third graders.
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Tina Giuliano is a reporter for KGUN 9. She is a native Arizonan and grew up in Scottsdale. Tina is passionate about storytelling and is excited to work telling Tucson's stories. Share your story ideas and important issues with Tina by emailing tina.giuliano@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
