Seniors Are Becoming The Life Blood Of Volunteer Organizations

By Jan Howard

Fifty members of RSVP in Newtown gave almost 7,000 hours of service from 1999 to 2000, giving of their time and talents in a variety of volunteer positions.

 RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) of Northern Fairfield County honored these senior citizen volunteers October 12 at a recognition tea at the Newtown Senior Center.

Director Rheba Escalera, Program Coordinator Rhona Gordon, and Network Administrator Don Pollock of RSVP, First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal and Newtown Senior Center Director Marilyn Place thanked the volunteers for their commitment to the community.

Ms Escalera and Mr Rosenthal presented citations of recognition and appreciation for the 6,985 hours the 50 RSVP members spent helping various nonprofit agencies and organizations.

Ms Escalera said the Newtown volunteers provided services to 90 different work sites.

RSVP, she said, is an “invitation to give something back” to the community in a variety of ways, for volunteers to use their life skills to help others.

“I am impressed with the amount of service given,” Mr Rosenthal said in presenting the citation from the town. He added that RSVP provides a way for seniors to “share their experience and to provide service,” to the town.

Seniors recognized for their volunteer service with FISH were Doris L. Bulmer, Thomas R. Cassin, C. Wesley Gillingham, J. Richard Kraycir, Melissa Kraycir, Barbara Laundergan, Michael D. Meffert, Dolores J. Miller, George J. Miller, Allan R. Mitchell, Mary Mitchell, Joseph Murphy, Robert G. O’Neil, Ellen K. Parrella, Dick Parrott, Pat Parrott, Robert Stokes, John Watson, Margret Watson.

Also, Josephine Lucas, Mike Lucas, Harvey Rasmussen, and Leota Rasmussen, Tourist Information Center; Joe Kelly, Danbury Senior Center; Ann Gantert, RSVP fundraising; Anna C. Brown, Theresa B. Curry, Helen DeFrancesco, Nita Hill, Rose P. Lindmark, Mary Lisk, Viola Murray, Virginia Parsloe, Nancy Pedone, Beatrice Piskura, Lois M. Pratt, Jean Reilly, Sallie Salmi, Irene Thacker, Hazel Tilson and Doris Travis, Dorothy Bartlett and Doris Bulmer, Mary Edwards and Catherine Millard, Newtown Senior Center.

 Ms Gordon noted that the knitting, sewing, and crocheting skills of Newtown Senior Center volunteers have provided blankets for the AIDS Ministry and lap robes for the veterans’ hospital.

Forty-four pairs of mittens and 11 hats knitted by volunteer Jean Reilly will be donated to area schools for those children in need of them. “We can always use more gloves and hats,” Ms Gordon said.

Volunteers Hazel Tillson, Ann Brown, and Terry Curry put together 13 twin size blankets that were donated to charitable causes.

Ms Gordon said local volunteers drive residents to doctor appointments; help with mailings, such as the Newtown Senior Center newsletter; work in school cafeterias and mentoring programs; help out at Ashlar of Newtown; and make raffle items for the Senior Center’s annual Christmas party.

As examples of some local volunteer efforts, Ms Place explained that Virginia Parsloe is a CHOICES volunteer, who helps seniors with medical insurance options; Viola Murray teaches sewing and quilting and helps out at the polls on election day; and Dorothy Bartlett drives homebound people to the doctor.

Volunteer Opportunities

Ms Gordon cited the need for people for two new volunteer opportunities. Someone is needed to paint the sets for a puppet show program in Danbury and to teach knitting at a nursing home.

You are never too old to volunteer with RSVP, Ms Gordon said. “Our oldest member is 96,” she said.

RSVP is one of the largest volunteer efforts in the nation. About half a million seniors participate nationwide, providing more than 8.5 million hours of service annually in communities. The value of this service is about $1.2 billion and represents a 35-fold return on the federal dollars invested in RSVP.

There are 13 RSVP groups in Connecticut, Ms Escalera said, with 10,000 members. In Northern Fairfield County RSVP volunteers give over 50,000 volunteer hours.

RSVP members, all over the age of 55, serve in many ways. They deliver meals to homebound people, tutor teenagers, renovate homes, teach English to immigrants, drive elderly and disabled people to medical appointments, and help people recover from natural disasters.

 RSVP will match the personal interest and skills of its members with opportunities to help solve local community problems. It makes it easy for older adults to find volunteer service opportunities that appeal to them.

Volunteers can serve anything from a few hours per week up to a full-time 40-hour commitment. Members serve in such community organizations as the State of Connecticut Tourist Center, DATAHR Rehabilitation Institute, the Literacy Volunteers of America, the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, Newtown FISH, Mr Fixit, and others.

RSVP members are guaranteed pre-service orientation and free supplemental insurance to and from volunteer positions.

The Northern Fairfield County RSVP has over 550 members that come from the seven towns of Newtown, Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, Redding, and Ridgefield. Over the past year these 550 members have volunteered over 51,000 hours in these communities.

Administered by the National Senior Service Corps through the Corporation for National Service, a public-private partnership, RSVP is a nonprofit organization sponsored by the Western Connecticut Chapter, American Red Cross. RSVP is funded by grants from the federal and state governments, as well as the United Way of Northern Fairfield County.

Ms Escalera, a resident of Danbury, was named as the new director in September. She was previously a program director for a women and children’s shelter. She is also a project development consultant for the Waterbury Opportunities Industrialization Center. She is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University and is in the process of completing her graduate studies.

A video presentation highlighted the number of opportunities for volunteer service there are in a community. Appeals were made for new volunteers interested in giving of their time for a good cause.

To become an RSVP volunteer, call 792-8200 and ask for Rheba Escalera or Rhona Gordon.