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From the Director : A Thanks to the Volunteers
By Robert P. Dean, Executive Director
The week of April 18th through the 24th is National Volunteer Week. Webster's Dictionary defines a volunteer as "one who offers to enter into any service of one's own free will". During the past year, more than 450 individuals have volunteered to serve Berkshire County elders through Elder Services. Each Elder Services volunteer is able to match his or her expertise or area of interest with one of the many volunteer opportunities available, and to truly make a positive difference in someone's life. As a result of these volunteers, Berkshire elders are able to continue to live in their own homes with dignity and independence.
While the dollar value of volunteer hours may be difficult to accurately calculate, the impact of the volunteers themselves is nearly impossible to exaggerate. Volunteers assist Elder Services in its mission to advocate and inform by assisting with the writing, preparation, and mailing of this newspaper, and with the filming and production of Berkshire Senior TV, which tapes two shows a month. Perhaps an elder needs a ride to a medical appointment, or help with the grocery shopping or to balance the check book. Maybe an elder needs help understanding health insurance information, or might be a nursing home resident who would like to talk to someone regarding a concern or question about the level of care or the quality of the food. Elder Services volunteers provide assistance with all of these things and more. Through their deeds and acts, each volunteer lets an elder know that he or she matters and that someone cares enough about him or her to help on their own time. Their actions say, "You are not forgotten and you are not alone".
More than 150 volunteers assist with the preparation and delivery of the Elder Services Meals on Wheels, or with the setup, service, and cleanup of the 14 meal sites located throughout Berkshire County. These volunteers provide essential support to our nutrition program which continues to be grossly underfunded but nevertheless, in the past year, prepared 245,000 meals in our Lanesboro kitchen and delivered 187,000 of these meals to homebound elders throughout Berkshire County. Also this year, the employees of five local businesses - Pittsfield Generating, GE Plastics, Berkshire Life, the Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse (Northern Lights Program), and the North Adams Transcript - volunteered through their employers to help deliver Meals on Wheels. For years, volunteers through BAROCO and Berkshire County Arc have helped with grocery shopping and delivering meals to elders. This past winter students from the McCann Vocational Technical High School once again volunteered to help shovel the steps and walkways of Meals on Wheels recipients.
Please join Elder Services in recognizing the valuable contribution each volunteer makes to the community whether by volunteering through Elder Services or through any other organization. We would like to thank each and every one of you. We hope you know that we couldn't do it without you. Thank you.