Maria Miranda is grateful for the ability to communicate with her 94-year-old mother, someone Miranda describes as more wired that she, but her "heart just tightened up" when she saw pictures online of people trying to communicate with family members in nursing homes through the window.

Nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities are restricting visitors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Miranda, founder of the 32-year-old marketing and design agency Miranda Creative, wanted to do something to help the elderly keep in touch with loved ones.

That "something" — with the help of the Wireless Zone stores in New London and Groton, as well as Senior Resources Agency on Aging — is a tablet donation drive, so seniors can use Zoom, FaceTime or other video conferencing to stay connected with family.

"I believe it's really important for us to be thinking outside of ourselves, not only as individuals but as businesses and entire communities," Miranda said last week. "This is the new norm, and generosity should be the new norm as well."

Miranda reached out to the owners of the Wireless Zone stores, Neil Ryan and Scott Gladstone, who she knew because all have been named Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut.

People who want to donate a tablet can drop it off at either the location in New London (New London Mall, 351 North Frontage Road) or Groton (Groton Square Shopping Center, 220 Route 12).

There's a box right inside the door, or if someone isn't comfortable entering the store, they can leave it in a bag on the curb, Ryan said. Verizon employees will then sanitize the tablet with Clorox wipes, clean out any pictures or memory, do a factory reset, and make sure it is still functioning and able to be charged.

Sam Stamatiou, manager of the New London location, said last week that employees had ordered some chargers for some of the older tablets that have been donated. He also said those donating a tablet will get a $20 Wireless Zone gift certificate.

Ryan said Monday that about a dozen tablets have been donated so far.

That doesn't include the 20 tablets Wireless Zone is purchasing using funds from the Norwich-based Senior Resources Agency on Aging.

Executive Director Joan Wessell said the agency is contributing $2,000 from its special critical needs funding, which she said is "available to us to do things just like this, that no other funding source would be able to pay for."

She offered the agency's assistance after seeing a Facebook post from Miranda. Wessell said Ryan has ordered tablets and is waiting for them to come in, and once the tablets arrive she'll send the $2,000.

Ryan said he was able to find tablets at a significant discount, and he and Gladstone will also be subsidizing the costs of the new tablets purchased.

As for where the new and donated tablets will go, Miranda said she has been in touch with Fairview in Groton and Sheltering Arms in Norwich.

She knows of other places that want tablets but doesn't want to promise anything or get their hopes up until the other tablets arrive.

Another concern is "being mindful of providing them to environments that feel comfortable to have them there," Miranda said. "Some spaces are in total lockdown, not even bringing in paper."

The people behind this "Tablets for Seniors" initiative are busy with plenty of other work in their respective jobs during the pandemic.

Miranda works with clients in fields such as health care and logistics. Wessell is monitoring home-delivered meals to make sure everyone who needs meals gets them, and the Money Follows the Person Program — which helps people transition from long-term care facilities back into the community — remains active.

At Wireless Zone, Ryan said he's had a lot of urgent requests from people in the health care industry for mobile hotspots.

e.moser@theday.com