Liliana Scott-Dzwonczyk

When Liliana Scott-Dzwonczyk learned how many senior citizens suffer from loneliness, the then six-year-old was moved to make a difference in the lives of the elderly in her community. In her home state of Maryland, more than 45,000 seniors live in care facilities. On average, for every ten residents, only four receive regular visits. Liliana decided to brighten the day of seniors with her artwork because she saw how much joy her art brought to her own grandparents. In her first year, she delivered more than 1000 pieces of artwork to seniors.

Now ten years old, Liliana is still going strong and serving her community for good. She named her ongoing effort to engage seniors Cheerful Grammy Grams. So far, she’s engaged close to 600 youth volunteers to participate and has reached nearly 8,000 senior citizens. In 2014, her program was recognized by the Maryland Department of Aging with the Governor’s Leadership Intergenerational Award. Last year, she wrote a letter to Governor Larry Hogan asking him to proclaim an annual “Visit a Senior Day” in Maryland, which he did on May 28th.