Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for starting off May 1, 2020 with a BIG BANG! Give Local York was held on Friday, May 1, 2020. It was a huge online day of caring and giving for 305 York County Non-Profits. People were so generous with donations that broke the records from 2019! There were 11, 101 donors who raised helped to raise $3.551,930!!!
HOW DID WHITE ROSE SENIOR CENTER DO? Friends, members, and families of WRSC raised $10,001!!!. These funds will be used to continue operations at the Center in many ways such as, activities for the older adults and virtual programming and classes. COVID-19 has made many of us realize that we need better internet, more education on using technology, and more devices in the hands of our older adults to stay connected.
May is also Older Americans Month. Every May, the Administration for Community Living leads our nation's observance of Older Americans Month. The theme for 2020 is "Make Your Mark." This theme was selected to encourage and celebrate countless contributions that older adults make to our communities. White Rose Senior Center is planning a salute to the valuable volunteers who support White Rose Senior Center the last week in May. The next 2-week calendar will end on May 22nd but look for the following calendar (may 25-June 5, 2020) of what ways we will be honoring our WRSC Volunteers and letting all of them know how they have “Made Their Mark” at White Rose Senior Center!
As we are slowly opening up Pennsylvania under Governor Tom Wolf’s plan, people are asking us “When will we be able to return to White Rose Senior Center?” Our answer continues to be that, “We don’t have an answer. Your safety is our primary concern. We will continue to be here to serve take out meals, deliver home delivered meals, provide games and activities virtually, and offer a big smile when we see you!” The hot “Take Out Meals” are on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 10:30-11:30. On Wednesdays, persons 60 and over receive a frozen meal for Thursday and Friday. The 2nd & 4th Thursdays we offer Fresh Express Produce to WRSC Members and/or Broad Park Manor Residents. The Commodity Supplemental Food Box for Seniors will be distributed the 1st Thursday in June and Mobile Fresh Produce will begin in June too.
The Inside Aging (May 2020) report from Secretary Robert Torres at the Department of Aging came out today. He wrote about a survey conducted by the Pennsylvania Council on Aging that was completed in April by 3700 Pennsylvanians aged 60 and older. We all are concerned about social isolation and its impact on older adults. The results were interesting and quite in tune with what our desires are for the Give Local York fundraising effort that we completed last Friday. Some of the major findings are as follows:
Older adults still engage with their communities, on average, almost twice weekly to get groceries.
Almost 6% of the “oldest” older adults (91 years and older) reported that they still attended religious events.
Fewer than 20% of the “oldest” older adults have access to smart phones, but more than 20% stated that they were interested in virtual connections.
The last paragraph in the Executive Summary Report sums it up as we move forward through COVID-19 and beyond: “Food access, social isolation and connectivity have and will continue to be issues affecting older adults’ well-being and quality of life; the responses drawn in real time during this pandemic present an opportunity to deepen policymakers’ understanding of these major issues and engage partners throughout our Pennsylvania communities in the development of thoughtful, creative and effective solutions.” Here is the link for the entire article: https://mailchi.mp/pa/inside-aging-march-4631393?e=bda3f42419
Be safe and healthy friends and REMEMBER, we are here to help you! Give us a call at 717-843-9704.