Local Youth Donates New Technology to Port Kennedy Aged Care Home

Bethanie Waters Aged Care Home in Port Kennedy has been the lucky recipient of a Google Home Mini, thanks to the kind and thoughtful generosity of two community members and a school project with a purpose.

Doug Minchin and his grandson Joshua Roper donated a Google Home Mini for a resident at Bethanie Waters as part of a school project for the Year 9 student from South Coast Baptist College.

The funds to purchase the device came from fundraising through Rotary and via Josh’s grandfather Doug, who is an active member.

The Google Home Mini is being put to great use with Josh and Doug setting it up for Bethanie Waters resident Annie McCall, who has a vision impairment. The Mini now helps her access the internet, check the weather, look up information, access her music etc., all using voice commands.

Joshua says, “This project required me to help out in the community with my mentor, so I thought this would be a good project for all concerned. It involved donating and helping install one or more Google Home Minis to an aged care home in my area.”

Annie is very excited and grateful for the new device. She says, “It is wonderful, every morning when I wake-up I say, ‘Good morning Google’ and it tells me the date, the weather and the news. It has been the best thing for me since my vision went bad. It lets me access information and stay connected with the world around me.

“I want to encourage people that might be a bit scared of technology to think about it and make the most of what is available to make their lives better. It really can make a huge difference. My Grandson saw it when he visited and he said now I am trendy!”

On the benefits to residents Joshua added, “This device will help remove any thoughts about being alone, stimulates the user’s brain, could help them solve crosswords, find out about what’s happening in the world, increase their knowledge of history, geography etc. and they will enjoy it because of how simple it is to activate with voice commands.”

Find out more about Bethanie.