A local teen is using her volunteer spirit to bridge the generation gap and bring a little joy into the lives of local senior citizens. While visiting her grandfather in a nursing home several years ago, Krista Cox, now 16, noticed that many of the elderly residents never seemed to get any visitors.

Each day, Cox made a point to talk with the lonely residents. When Christmas rolled around, she brought them homemade gifts, even baking sugar-free cookies for those who were diabetic.

Though Cox didn’t return to Glenburnie Nursing Home after her grandfather passed away, the memory of those residents has stayed with her.

&uot;It was a very gratifying experience, and I’ve never forgotten it,&uot; she said. &uot;So now I want to do something on a larger scale.&uot;

Now Cox is organizing an Adopt-A-Grandparent program to bring teens and nursing home residents together, an experience she believes will be beneficial for both groups.

&uot;They have so much love to give, funny stories to tell, and a little attention from us (young people) just makes their faces light up,&uot; Cox said.

Cox has enlisted the help of her youth group at New Covenant Presbyterian in Natchez and several of her classmates at Trinity Episcopal Day School, where Cox is a junior. &uot;We plan to start (at Glenburnie) and if there is enough interest and if enough people get going, we can expand it,&uot; Cox said.

The visitation program is the most recent cause Cox has taken on. She has also worked with Habitat for Humanity, the Sunshine Shelter and the Natchez Children’s Home, and she volunteers with the River City Classic 10K run.

Cox is the daughter of Deidre Cox.

&uot;You know you can’t go out and fix the world, but everything you can do helps a little,&uot; Cox said. &uot;If you’ve got the ability to help somebody – you know like people say, seize the day – do everything you can while you can.&uot;

And as for how Cox imagines her grandfather would feel about her latest project?

&uot;I think he’d be really proud,&uot; she said.