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Care Facility Outreach - Family Links |
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September - 2009
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Oh the lazy, crazy days of summer! They are drawing to a close with school started and the cool weather it seems as if we didn’t have a summer this year. I probably shouldn’t speak so soon. We may have some scorching days yet to come! Desert Ministries welcomes three new volunteers this summer.
We also want to welcome Christina Pearson.
Christina will be taking her little daughter Olivia with her to Good
Samaritan. Christina is no
60 people go out to 6 different homes.
We partnered with
Kingsway Church this year in placing their Step Out volunteers
Sunday outreach with nursing homes and assisted living
Partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha Athletes in full swing.
We had our kick off meeting with the new UNO athletic director, Trev Alberts speaking. Lyn Holley, Ph.D. of the UNO Gerontology department was on hand to talk about the importance of community projects like this one, especially for our elders living in nursing homes. Paul Falkowski, and Ruth McGrath of Desert Ministries presented the Swim, Wrestling, and Volleyball teams with photo albums, beautifully scrap booked by Desert Ministries volunteers Aby, Rosie and Aida DeLaCruz. Six more teams want to participate this year, so it promises to be a busy year. Desert Ministries Quarterly Volunteer Dinner! Mark your calendars for Tuesday evening, September 29th, 6:00 P.M. for our quarterly Desert Ministries volunteer dinner, once again, at the Rockbrook Garden Cafe. The staff and management of the Garden Cafe have been very good to us and the food is good too! Paul Falkowski, our director, will be sharing updates and future plans for Desert Ministries. Our volunteer Loretta Kolpek will be singing some favorites for us. Dinner is provided by Desert Ministries. Please come and enjoy the evening of fellowship with your peers, our amazing volunteers! God bless you all and hope to see you at on September 29th! Please send in your hours monthly! It is so important to the future of Desert Ministries for you to log and turn in your hours to us each month. Turn in your hours for August! Save this handy timesheet to your desktop and email it to us each month! Just click Timesheets to download the timesheet , then hit "Save." Save it somewhere convenient for you to find and then just fill it out and email it to me. A big thank you and God bless you, all of our volunteers. Ruth McGrath, Program Director Care Facility Outreach, Desert Ministries |
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Debbie Gomez
is joining us, volunteering after work at Good Samaritan Lutheran
Home. Her mother was there so Debbie knows the lay of the land and
what it means to the residents to have a visitor. She remembers the
joy that she would see in her mother’s face when people stopped to
chat with her. Now that Debbie’s children are grown she would like
to share that joy with other nursing home residents. Debbie goes to
Good Samaritan after work so she is just in time to help escort
residents back from dinner to their rooms. I met Debbie on her
first visit to Good Samaritan, so helped wheel people back to their
rooms. I asked a lady what her name was. She said her name was
Clarice. To my surprise, I recognized her voice as an old friend of
my mother’s. I had played with her daughter as a child. Mom had lost
track of her and didn’t know where she was. You just never know who
you will meet do you? Welcome Debbie! 
stranger to the nursing home. She volunteered for several years in
residences in another state. Olivia will be new, really new, she is
18 months old. Way to get her started early Christina! Christina
says, “I have a love for the elderly and I believe that they should
be honored and not forgotten as so many are.” She wants to instill
this in her daughter so that she will know what it means to serve
others, and what better place to start than with the elderly in
nursing homes. Welcome aboard Christina and Olivia!
Jodi Bagley
will be joining our Desert Ministries army of volunteers just this
week. Jodi is married and works from home. She is fairly new to
Omaha, hailing from Memphis, Tennessee. Jodi has also volunteered
in nursing homes with the elderly in the past. It seems to get in
your blood doesn’t it? Or is it in your heart? Jodi definitely has
that love for the nursing home residents overflowing from her
heart. She hasn’t narrowed down which facility she will be visiting
yet but I know she will be loved wherever she chooses to go. Thank
you Jodi for joining us at Desert Ministries!
facilities. They had 60 people go out to 6 different nursing
homes. The Lutheran Home volunteers spent the afternoon painting
flower planters and sanding and staining picnic tables, then
visiting with the residents. The Lindenwood group painted the
activity
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room,
sang and told jokes to the residents, gave manicures and last but
not least called Bingo, which they brought prizes for. We didn’t
get out to get pictures and to greet the other four groups but they
also had a great time in service and visiting the residents.
"UNO
Athletes and Elders: a community of interest program,"
matches UNO athletic teams and nursing homes. The athletes go to a
nursing or assisted
living facility and talk about their team, distribute cookies and
juice and visit with
the residents. 