VOLUME 13 ISSUE 1 P U B L I S H E D Q U A R T E R L Y JUNE 2020 HELLO NEIGHBOR It is so good to be reaching out to you with our first news- letter of 2020! We had no idea that the world would be such a different place than it was when we sent our newsletter last November. Our office closed to the public, March 16 and opened May 4, when the travel advisory was lifted. As a nonprofit providing essential services to a vulnerable population, staff worked from home and took turns coming to the office to answer phones. This allowed us to give reassurance and address critical grocery needs on a case-by-case basis. Most services are paused until June 1, to protect the health of our seniors and volunteers, most of whom are seniors, as well. Younger volunteers have been recruited to shop. They use gift cards to purchase need- ed items, then leave them for people who depend on food pantry items to make it through the month. Thanks, Duke Energy Foundation and Kevin Johnston, for your assistance. During this time of elevated uncertainty, please GIVE YOUR BEST GIFT in the enclosed envelope, or on our FB page or website. Your support is critical! We are grateful for you and love and miss you! ...Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT Yours in Christ, Jamey Henderson, Exec. Dir. • People under age 65 to shop with gift cards & make door drops, 1x/month until food pantries re-stock/open. • Adopt-A-Grandparent pen pals for summer. 1x/month, sign cards, add stamp & drop off at office to be addressed & mailed. Great for business or church groups, clubs, students or families with children. Home- made cards or art- work appreciated! • Collect grocery or household items for seniors or office needs. We need you NOW more than ever! www.samaritancaregivers.org If not you, who? If not now, when? Neighbor to Neighbor Thanks for everything, LaVerne! Office Needs • First class stamps • Lawn & leaf trash bags • Lysol spray disinfectant • Quart ZipLoc bags • Copy paper • Tall kitchen trash bags • Grocery & household items for senior needs or office In January, Samaritan Caregivers said farewell to agency co-founder, LaVerne Grothouse. LaVerne passed away January 25, 2020 at age 93. She was a long-time parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church. LaVerne is survived by her husband, Dr. Carl Grothouse, six children and many grandchildren. In 1995, LaVerne and close friend, Jane Brown, attended a two-day Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers confer- ence in Monroe MI, at the request of St. Joseph Hospital President, Sister Martin McEntee. Their goal was to bring back information from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about starting a care giving organization. This was the groundwork that would become Samaritan Caregivers. In April 1996, a local steer- ing committee was formed. “Several times we were going to give up.” LaVerne said during a 2007 interview. “We had a lot of things to do, but weren’t sure just what.” Despite uncertain begin- nings, by 2006, volunteers from Samaritan Caregivers were providing 7000 hours of com- munity service, including res- pite, visiting, rides, shopping, Adopt-A-Grandparent, IRIS (recording the newspaper as it was read, so people could listen on their phone), maintenance, fund raising and more. LaVerne was also the driving force behind Samaritan Caregivers Duck Derby, the organization’s cornerstone fundraising event from 2000— 2016. This event grossed $300,144 over 16 years! LaVerne was active with Samaritan Caregivers for many years; helping people direct- ly, serving on the Board of Directors and later on the Advisory Council. She was a generous donor, attended Fall Banquets and was a frequent visitor in the office, most notably driving her red convertible, an 80th birthday gift! Samaritan Caregivers would not be helping seniors without the tireless efforts of LaVerne and Jane. “What was once enjoyed and deeply loved, we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.”—Helen Keller Much love & gratitude. Jamey Henderson, Executive Director
6
Embed
Neighbor to Neighbor · LaVerne passed away January 25, 2020 at age 93. pite, visiting, rides, shopping, She was a long-time parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church. LaVerne is
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
V O L U M E 1 3
I S S U E 1
P U B L I S H E D Q U A R T E R L Y
J U N E 2 0 2 0
H E L L O N E I G H B O R
It is so good to be reaching
out to you with our first news-
letter of 2020! We had no idea
that the world would be such a
different place than it was when
we sent our newsletter last
November.
Our office closed to the
public, March 16 and opened
May 4, when the travel advisory
was lifted. As a nonprofit
providing essential services to
a vulnerable population, staff
worked from home and took
turns coming to the office to
answer phones. This allowed
us to give reassurance and
address critical grocery needs
on a case-by-case basis.
Most services are paused
until June 1, to protect the
health of our seniors and
volunteers, most of whom
are seniors, as well.
Younger volunteers have
been recruited to shop. They
use gift cards to purchase need-
ed items, then leave them for
people who depend on food
pantry items to make it through
the month. Thanks, Duke
Energy Foundation and Kevin
Johnston, for your assistance.
During this time of elevated
uncertainty, please GIVE YOUR
BEST GIFT in the enclosed
envelope, or on our FB page
or website. Your support is
critical! We are grateful for
you and love and miss you!
...Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged, for the Lord your
God will be with you wherever
you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT
Yours in Christ,
Jamey Henderson, Exec. Dir.
• People under age 65 to shop with gift cards & make door drops, 1x/month until food pantries re-stock/open.
• Adopt-A-Grandparent pen pals for summer. 1x/month, sign cards, add stamp & drop off at office to be addressed & mailed. Great for business or
church groups, clubs, students or families with children. Home-made cards or art-work appreciated!
• Collect grocery or household items for seniors or office needs.
We need you NOW more
than ever!
www.samaritancaregivers.org
If not you, who? If not now, when?
Neighbor to Neighbor
Thanks for everything, LaVerne!
Office Needs
• First class stamps
• Lawn & leaf trash bags
• Lysol spray disinfectant
• Quart ZipLoc bags
• Copy paper
• Tall kitchen trash bags
• Grocery & household items
for senior needs or office
In January, Samaritan Caregivers said farewell to agency co-founder, LaVerne Grothouse. LaVerne passed away January 25, 2020 at age 93. She was a long-time parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church. LaVerne is survived by her husband, Dr. Carl Grothouse, six children and many grandchildren. In 1995, LaVerne and close friend, Jane Brown, attended a two-day Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers confer-ence in Monroe MI, at the request of St. Joseph Hospital President, Sister Martin McEntee. Their goal was to
bring back information from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about starting a care giving organization. This was the groundwork that would become Samaritan Caregivers. In April 1996, a local steer-ing committee was formed. “Several times we were going to give up.” LaVerne said during a 2007 interview. “We had a lot of things to do, but weren’t sure just what.” Despite uncertain begin-nings, by 2006, volunteers from Samaritan Caregivers were providing 7000 hours of com-munity service, including res-pite, visiting, rides, shopping, Adopt-A-Grandparent, IRIS (recording the newspaper as it was read, so people could listen on their phone), maintenance, fund raising and more. LaVerne was also the driving force behind Samaritan Caregivers Duck Derby, the organization’s cornerstone fundraising event from 2000—2016. This event grossed $300,144 over 16 years! LaVerne was active with Samaritan Caregivers for many
years; helping people direct-ly, serving on the Board of Directors and later on the Advisory Council. She was a generous donor, attended Fall Banquets and was a frequent visitor in the office, most notably driving her red convertible, an 80th birthday gift! Samaritan Caregivers would not be helping seniors without the tireless efforts of LaVerne and Jane. “What was once enjoyed and deeply loved, we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.”—Helen Keller Much love & gratitude. Jamey Henderson, Executive Director
Samaritan Caregivers recently welcomed Melinda Stanley to the Board of Directors. Melinda is on staff at IU Kokomo and previ-ously was the director of the Kokomo Sports Center. Welcome! When you order ink and toner from Cartridge World through their “EasyOrder” online system, 5% of your purchase benefits Samaritan Caregivers! Same or next day delivery, 100% satisfac-tion, no-cost printer advice, competitive pric-ing & tech support are added benefits! Go to www.cwkokomo.com/samaritancaregivers and sign up now! Thank you to twelve community partners whose sales resulted in contributions totaling $264.48 for 2019! Avoiding stores and doing more shopping on Amazon? Donate to Samaritan Caregivers at Amazon.com when you sign up at http://smile.amazon.com/about and select Samaritan Caregivers. Every purchase helps! Would you like to receive your newsletter via email? Help us reduce paper and expenses by calling 765.453.7611 or emailing [email protected] to switch from paper to digital! A special thanks to our friends at Trilogy who share our love of seniors! They donated $632 in 2020 with their fundraising efforts! When you shop at Kroger for grocery and household items, you
donate to Samaritan Caregivers! 86 households are participating in Kroger’s Community Rewards for our organization, generating $253.14 for 1st Qtr 2020! Register your Kroger Plus card now at www.krogercommunityrewards.com to help us reach our goal of 100 households in 2020!
All-Pro Plumbing showcased Samaritan Caregivers during an April promotion, where they selected four individuals to receive $25 gift cards from Healing Hands Natural Therapy Spa. They also purchased items from Healing Hands to give to their Adopt-A-Grandparent friends. Then they shared our need for Adopt-A-Grandparent pen pals on their FB page! All-Pro Plumbing is the Way to Go! Are you or someone you know an employee of IN American Water? They match volunteer time and monetary donations on a 1:1 basis, up to $1,000 per employee, per calendar year. Please let us know if you qualify so we can discuss specifics and help more seniors!
Questions About Medicare?
Samaritan Caregivers is a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) provider.
Call 765.453.7611 to schedule your appointment. Make good decisions about health care choices, including
eligibility for low-income premium assistance. WE ARE NOT SELLING ANYTHING!
Want to be a SHIP volunteer?
Enroll now for summer training conducted by the State of
IN, locally or online: 6/22-23 & 6/29-30, 9 am—4 pm. Call 765.453.7611 or email Rebekah at
2585 trips to doctors/dentists, banks, Community Howard, Ascension St. Vincent Kokomo, CVS,
Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, Meijer, Aldi, Dollar Tree, Rural King, post office, library and more!
$1000 was received from the Community Foundation of Howard County for a day of service to reduce in-home fall
risks, the place where most falls occur for people 65+.
Originally planned for spring 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event has not yet been scheduled.
Skilled and non-skilled volunteer teams and sponsors are need-ed! Want to be included? Call 765.453.7611 or email Jamey at [email protected]. Watch for more info!
PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR SENIORS
During Volunteer Recognition Month in April, Samaritan Caregivers recognized individuals making a difference in the lives of seniors. THANK YOU SHIP Volunteers: Jan Drac, Harry Holkenbrink, Becky Irick, Marcia Keating,
C. Anne Girton Kumeh, Judi McCoy, Diana & Ed Pulver; as well as, Jan Drac, Kennie Hutchison and Willie Miller.
These caring people have given over 700 hours through Medicare counseling, board of directors, fundraising committees, driving, office cleaning, food pantry delivery, shopping, newsletter folding, and visiting!