LIFE ElderCare | meals on wheels

80-year-old community activist signs up for Meals On Wheels

January 17, 2012 By rachael

Clara, a long-time community activist, heard her daughter say to her recently,“You volunteer to help others, but you never ask for help yourself.” It got her thinking about how she might utilize the resources available at LIFE ElderCare to help her with some of her daily activities. At age 80, she now has to use a walker to get around and can no longer stand at the stove to make meals.

While her daughter, who she lives with, does grocery shopping, she was finding it hard to get a hot, nutritious mid-day meal. The Meals On Wheels program was the perfect solution. “I have been on the program for a little over a year now and I really enjoy the meals,” she says, “and, as a former registered nurse I know how important good nutrition is to my health.”

When she was younger Clara enjoyed gymnastics and was always physically active. Health problems required to her to take early retirement but she supplemented her income for many years with a small in-home business. After her retirement she moved in with her daughter to help raise her teen-aged grandchildren.

She stays proactive about her health and has three doctors who are concerned and helpful. “I think the community services in the Tri-City area are very good,” she says, “I have access to all kind of services and especially enjoy the caring, Meals On Wheels volunteers who sometimes bring their small children along to visit with me.”

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Having someone to help means Tri-City residents in their 80′s and 90′s can maintain their independence.

January 9, 2012 By rachael

Virginia, 86, was widowed in 1993 and has lived in her Fremont home for 43 years. She currently lives alone. Her five children live out of the area, the two closest in Marin County. She maintains her independence by taking advantage of three LIFE ElderCare programs: VIP Rides, Friendly Visitors, and Meals On Wheels.

After reading about the organization in the newspaper, she mentioned it to her daughter who lives in Denver. Her daughter called Bernie Thien, Friendly Visitors Coordinator to get more information on how her mom could sign up. Bernie delighted Virginia by matching her up with a Friendly Visitor from her home state of Rhode Island. The two have been meeting every Friday for the past year to take short walks, play Scrabble and enjoy each other’s company.

She uses VIP Rides for grocery shopping and started receiving Meals On Wheels last March after coming out of a rehabilitation center for a fractured vertebrae. Her back problem makes it hard to stand long enough to cook meals or to buy groceries without assistance.

“I highly recommend LIFE ElderCare and often suggest it to people in my arthritis support group at Washington Hospital. Without the services that are available in my community I would probably be forced to sell my home and move into a much more expensive nursing home or assisted living facility.”

For fun, Virginia is part of a birdwatching group and has bird feeders in her backyard, and she watches movies on Netflix. “Politics are dismaying and depressing,” she says, “and I worry about my children not being able to afford health coverage if cuts are made to Medicare.”

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Volunteers have the magic touch

December 19, 2011 By rachael

LIFE ElderCare’s Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon drew an enthusiastic crowd of 275 people to the Newark Hilton on December 7 for an elegant meal and entertainment by local magician, Ryan Adler. This year’s theme, “Volunteers Have the Magic Touch,” celebrated the efforts of 574 volunteers who, along with 318 nursing students from Unitek College and Cal State East Bay, donated close to 42,000 hours last year towards helping frail, at-risk seniors in the Tri-City area stay healthy and maintain their independence.

Mary M. Anderson, Executive Director of LIFE ElderCare, welcomed the guests by saying, “Within each of us is a powerful design for living. Every day that you volunteer, your own special magic makes life better on behalf of our community’s seniors.” Janice Futch-Claridge, event sponsor, added, “This is a special time of the year but you are special all year long.”

This year’s recipient of the organization’s Friend for LIFE Award was outgoing Newark mayor, David Smith. Smith accepted the award on behalf of the volunteers by saying, “Through your dedicated service to the community, all of you are MY friends for life. On my last official day of being Mayor, I couldn’t be spending it with a finer group of people.“

Smith moved some people in the room to tears with a heartfelt story about how sharing a candy bar with a classmate when he was in the third grade was remembered more than 30 years later at a high school reunion. “You never know how much you are impacting someone’s life,” he said, “with a just a simple act of kindness.”

One of the guests, Paul Ray Andrus, has been giving rides to homebound seniors through the VIP Rides program for the past two years. “I like the flexibility of being able to volunteer when I have a break or some free time during the week,” he said. Dori Alexander started delivering meals through the Meals On Wheels program three months ago. After she retired, she knew this was what she wanted to do. “When I see people on my route I feel so happy,” she said, “and if they have time to talk, I enjoy visiting with them.”

According to a recent article in the AARP Bulletin, the value of one volunteer hour in California is $23.42. When you add it up, this represents a $900,000 in-kind investment by LIFE ElderCare volunteers. If you would like to join them in building an aging-friendly community, and make some heart-friendly connections along the way, please sign up today.

Filed Under: aging, caregiver, elder care, elder care programs, elder care services, eldercare, homecare, life eldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, senior services, volunteer Tagged With: aging, caregiver, david smith, elder care, eldercare, homebound seniors, life eldercare, meals on wheels, volunteer

For many Tri-City seniors, this holiday is not a holiday from hunger.

December 5, 2011 By rachael

Every day, through no fault of their own, older adults are faced with heartbreaking choices. And the harsh reality is that many are forced to decide between medications and food on the table. Or heating their home and paying their mortgage. Throughout this holiday season, we expect to deliver 15,750 meals to homebound Tri City seniors who otherwise would not have any food.

We cannot do it alone. Your financial contribution will sponsor a senior’s meals and reflect that they are not forgotten. You will make the difference between hope and hopelessness. Or in the words of one our seniors, “My Meals On Wheels volunteers bring food for my soul and hope for my journey!”

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Annual Wheels for Meals Bike Ride raised $100,000

October 31, 2011 By rachael

A great time was had by all who attended the third Annual Wheels for Meals Bike Ride in Livermore, CA on October 22. The ride drew 762 riders who enjoyed a beautiful day and great food. LIFE ElderCare assisted during the ride by staffing a booth along the way where participants could stop for refreshments. The booth theme was patriotism and Barb Proctor (as Abe Lincoln), Paul Emge (as Obama) and Barbara Emge (as Betsy Ross), donned costumes for the occasion. The ride included three routes, covering 81 miles in three counties. “I got a real kick out of seeing so many families making the ride together,” said Proctor, “everybody really enjoyed themselves.”

Filed Under: Alameda County Meals On Wheels, elder care, life eldercare, meals on wheels, Wheels for Meals Ride

Fun-Raiser at Sweet Tomatoes, March 9, 2011 from 5-8 pm.

March 4, 2011 By LIFE ElderCare

Please join members of the staff and Board of LIFE ElderCare at Sweet Tomatoes restaurant for our Fun-Raiser. This is our first partnership with a local restaurant to raise money and we need your participation to make it a success. 15% of the cost of your meal will be donated to LIFE ElderCare. Invite friends, family, friends-of-friends—everyone you know who likes to eat fresh, wholesome food.

*** NOTE: (You must present the Sweet Tomatoes Donation Form when you pay for your meal. Be sure to download this form and bring it with you).

Sweet Tomatoes is located at: 39370 Paseo Padre Pkwy (corner of Paseo Padre and Walnut Avenue) in Fremont. For directions to the restaurant visit: sweettomatoes.com

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Forgetting to turn off the stove can make some seniors averse to cooking.

February 18, 2011 By LIFE ElderCare

Last month I did an assessment on a man, close to 90 years old, who came to the US from Ireland. He says he really likes Meals On Wheels because the food is nutritious, and if he’s not hungry when the meal comes, it is easy to heat it up in the microwave later. He tries to make Irish stew at least twice a month but finds that once he walks away from the stove he forgets about it. ”I can’t tell you how many times I make stew and burn it,” he says. ”I use to be a good cook, but not anymore.”

His daughters have warned him about the dangers of both cooking and driving, at age 90, but he pays no attention to them and drives to see his wife who is in a nursing home in Hayward. He has a great need to see her everyday. He left his wife in Ireland with 4 kids to come to California to get a job. She had to raise the kids alone for years before he had enough money to bring everyone over.

Notes from the Field
Barb Proctor, Meals On Wheels Assessment Coordinator

Filed Under: aging, caregiver, elder care, eldercare, elders, end senior hunger, geriatric care, homecare, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, senior malnutrition, senior meals, senior nutrition, senior services, seniors, volunteer Tagged With: aging, caregiver, elder, elder care, homebound seniors, homecare, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, old age, senior nutrition, senior services, seniors, volunteer

Have a healthy heart!

February 2, 2011 By LIFE ElderCare

February is American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is a major cause of disability. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which often appears as a heart attack. In 2010, an estimated 785,000 Americans had a new coronary attack, and about 470,000 had a recurrent attack. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one.

LIFE ElderCare’s Meals On Wheels program helps seniors learn about heart healthy eating by including nutrition tips and information on the back of every monthly MOW menu. This month we featured information about diseases and conditions that put the heart at risk and the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. (To learn more about heart disease, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) website).

Sometimes seniors already know about these signs and symptoms because they learned about them the hard way — by dealing with the disease itself. One gentleman in his 80’s, who recently experienced heart failure and hospitalization, called to tell me that he recognized that his own nurse, while visiting him at his home, had symptoms of a heart attack and he called 911 for her.

You never know when you might be called upon to save a life.

Barbara Emge
Meals On Wheels Coordinator

Filed Under: aging, caregiver, elder care, eldercare, elders, end senior hunger, geriatric care, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, senior malnutrition, senior meals, senior nutrition, senior services, seniors, volunteer Tagged With: aging, American Heart Month, caregiver, elder, elder care, eldercare, heart disease, homebound seniors, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, old age, senior, senior nutrition, senior services, seniors, volunteer fremont ca

Meals On Wheels helps homebound, obese woman get one healthy meal a day.

January 24, 2011 By LIFE ElderCare

We all know how hard it is to lose five to ten pounds. But what if you needed to lose 300 pounds? Where would you start? One woman in our Meals On Wheels program is starting with one healthy meal a day. At close to 500 pounds she is unable to shop or cook, and has not left her home in two years. While she does have friends who bring food to her every week, it is not the kind of food that contributes to healthy eating habits or losing weight.

Her weight started ballooning after a serious car accident in which many of her bones were broken. After going through many surgeries she has struggled to adjust to the changes in her body. Being unable to walk for many months, she gradually stopped participating in activities that she had previously enjoyed and started relying more and more on friends for her basic needs.

Obesity can lead to a number of chronic health problems but one problem that is rarely discussed is clothes. While there are stores that specialize in clothes for overweight people, they are of no use to those who cannot leave their home to shop, or who need to have their clothes custom made. Recently, she found someone who has sewing skills who has agreed to help her design a few new dresses. I put her in touch with a City of Fremont case manager to discuss the many programs that are available to help Fremont residents who are disabled and she was very grateful.

Notes From the Field
Barb Proctor, LIFE ElderCare Meals On Wheels Assessment Coordinator

Filed Under: aging, caregiver, elder care, eldercare, elders, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, obesity, senior malnutrition, senior meals, senior nutrition, senior services, seniors, volunteer Tagged With: aging, caregiver, elder, elder care, fremont meals on wheels, homebound seniors, life elder care, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, meals on wheels fremont, newark meals on wheels, nonprofit, obesity, old age, senior, senior nutrition, senior services, seniors, union city meals on wheels, volunteer

LIFE ElderCare Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

December 27, 2010 By LIFE ElderCare

Mary M. Anderson, Executive Director

Every year in December, LIFE ElderCare hosts a grand party at the Fremont/Newark Hilton to honor and appreciate their volunteers. This year’s theme, “Come Rain or Come Shine,” acknowledged the heartfelt commitment each volunteer makes to ensure that meals, transportation, exercise and companionship, are available to every homebound senior in the Tri-City area. During the past year, over 500 volunteers gave 35,500 hours to the organization.

Judy Zlatnik, Board President and Janice Futch-Claridge, Board Member

The celebration filled the ballroom to capacity with close to 300 guests that included Mayors Bob Wasserman of Fremont, David Smith of Newark and Mark Green of Union City. David Smith proclaimed the luncheon to be the one he looks forward to the most during the year. “Despite exceeding their contracted agreements every year, this organization has never put people on a waiting list to receive meals, he said. Janice Futch-Claridge, the event sponsor said, “Never in my long years of doing community work have I found more generosity, commitment and love than in LIFE ElderCare.”

Some of the volunteers shared their stories with each other during lunch. Jane Lotz and her husband Stewart have been volunteering with Meals On Wheels for twenty years. “I have delivered meals to 426 different people, she said. “I keep doing it because the people are so wonderful and the need is so great.” A group of four volunteers from the Dawn Breakers Lion’s Club talked about how they have enjoyed alternating first and third Friday meal deliveries for the past five years.

Mary M. Anderson, LIFE ElderCare’s Executive Director presented Gabrielle Chow, Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Valley Care Hospital and Bill Stewart, CEO of RGW Construction the organization’s Friends for LIFE Award. Chow was acknowledged as a model partner for keeping food costs down and for working collaboratively with seniors in the Meals On Wheels program to create delicious, healthy meals. Stewart was commended for his company’s longtime dedication to the organization. “RGW is truly the wind beneath our wings,” said Anderson. “For the past fifteen years the annual RGW Golf Tournament has raised $40,000 - $50,000 to help Tri-City seniors.”

This year marks the 35th year of operation for LIFE ElderCare. In 1975 the organization delivered 350 meals a year. Last year they delivered over 95,000 meals. During the past six years, they have expanded services to include senior transportation and in-home exercise. Their friendly visitor program started in 1985. For more information, or to volunteer, visit their website at http://lifeeldercare.org.

This post was published in the December 24, 2010 issue of the Tri City Voice newspaper, as ”LIFE ElderCare celebrates 35 years of community commitment.”

Filed Under: caregiver, elder care, eldercare, elders, end senior hunger, geriatric care, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, nonprofit, positive aging, senior services, seniors, volunteer Tagged With: aging, aging in place, caregiver, elder, elder care, eldercare, end senior hunger, fremont, homebound seniors, in home elder care, life elder care, life eldercare, lifeeldercare, meals on wheels, newark ca, nonprofit, senior, senior services, seniors, union city ca, volunteer