There are many possible authentic projects for students that would like to adopt older folks from an assisted care community or residence.
A few ideas (depending on the number of students involved, these ideas can be for all residents, a few, or even just one):
Get a list of everyone’s birthdays in the residence, chart/graph this and make cards for birthdays.
Create surveys asking residents about favorite things, write stories, poems, etc., based on the results of the survey.
Make cards, ornaments, placemats etc., as gifts for holidays.
Create and send a student generated monthly newsletter, magazine, or newspaper. Copy for each resident.
I also found this on Facebook:
The International Card Exchange for the Elderly
It lists homes that are asking for cards. Listings are international – a great authentic tie in with geography. *I am not sure how current this page is, make sure and check out that a listing is current before you have students create cards.
The Educational Journey 