Day 312: Full Morning of Service

This morning was a very busy one for me. I started off picking up one of the Sisters who doesn't drive and taking her to Mass with me in Belmont. She was very appreciative and looks forward to Tuesday morning Mass. Next it was time to visit my Communion calls. Today I had 3 out of the usual 4 people to visit. Alice is almost bedridden but was in a lounge chair all wrapped up in her blankets. She is always delighted to have me come and prays with me before she recieves the Lord. Next was Al, our friend from Boy Scout Days. He seems to be failing each time but is so appreciative that I come. The secretary sends him the bulletin each week and you would think she had sent him a hundred dollars!! Always wants to know what is going on at Church and with the parishioners he knows. Next stop was Anne across the street. She has been suffering from Siatica for 10 days now and is back on her walker as she is afraid she will fall. It is a wonderful feeling that a simple visit with Holy Communion and some chat can do so much for the homebound. Oh yes, I mustn't forget dropping off our bag of staples for the food bank. One of our friends from St. Jude's died and will be buried on Thursday. She worked 3 hours every Thursday at a Food Pantry in Watertown, so I gave this bag in memory of our friend Barbara. While I was doing my visits, Dad was off to a funeral of a man with whom he worked at Western Electric. May Joe and Barbara rest in peace and may my ill friends be comfortable.

Day 311: Donations to Haiti

        Hello! It is Sophia. One of the coaches at my gym said she was collecting items to give to her friend who was traveling to Haiti. He was going with his church and was planning to rebuild houses and give items to the poor. We gladly put a bag of clothes together of different sized clothing and  a couple pairs of old sneakers that I brought to the gym. She was very excited and thanked me very much. I know the clothes will be put to good use and that the children in Haiti will be very thankful.

Day 310: Beans and Bread

Today was an early morning as Nicole and I left the apartment at 7am to go to an Outreach Center in Baltimore. Loyola is affiliated with Beans and Bread, a program to help feed the homeless and less fortunate in Baltimore City. We took the morning shift, so our job was to prepare food. When we got there, there were two Loyola professors setting up the small kitchen for us to begin cooking. The director of the program told us we were making sausage, carmelized onions, and baked beans with bacon, maple syrup, and ground turkey. It was quite a process, so we had to be organized. I was put right to work, cutting onions. All 60 pounds of them. I have never cut so many onions in my life! I surprisingly didn't cry, since I usually cut one and I start tearing! I took some breaks, stirring the multiple pots of beans on the stove and cutting up the bacon on the skilletts! Nicole started tearing up, so she was put on turkey duty. There were large pans that she cooked the turkey in, and threw it into the bean pots. It was so interesting learning how to prepare enough food for 300 people with 8 volunteers in about 3 hours. I felt like we were on the food network show "Dinner: Impossible"! We did the preparation for the serving, but there was another group of about 30 Loyola students that came to help serve the food and get anything the guests wanted. After all the food was done cooking at about 11, we quickly cleaned up and headed on home (which was an adventure in itself since we were driving a Loyola car and couldn't figure out how to get back to campus with all the one way streets and city driving). This was a great experience and I'd love to do it again this semester!

Day 309: Roses For Life

Today at the 4:00 Mass at St. Patrick's in Natick,  there was an opportunity to make a donation to Massachusetts Citizens For Life organization.  Literally hundreds of pretty fabric roses were available at  the back of the church to be given to anyone who made a contribution.  MCFL is the largest and most effective statewide Citizens Action Group promoting Respect For All Human Life; young and old, born and preborn.

As a woman who is personally opposed to abortion, it was an easy decision to support this cause. However, I did struggle a bit before dropping my money in the basket because I wondered if my support meant that I think any young woman who has made the difficult choice to have an abortion is a bad person?  I certainly hope not, because I continue to work hard to not judge anyones situation but my own.  And I definitely do not want to be considered an activist in this cause.  Yet I am aware of the politics involved with this MCFL appeal as there is a "Death with Dignity" initiative on the 2012 ballot that the Catholic Church hopes to see defeated.  And overall, I do feel it is good to have MCFL out there to advocate while the Pro-Choice groups are doing the same...which I hope contributes to a more educated group of young Americans when it comes to issues of life and death.

Day 308: Relay for Life Kickoff!

Bianca here. Well, it is finally Friday the 27th, a day that I have been waiting for since winter break. Today was the start of the Relay for Life Kickoff, which is pretty much a big registration "push" and when we start actively recruiting and advertising for the event in March. For the past couple weeks I have been contacting places all over campus to set up registration booths. After some compromising, convincing, meetings, (and sometimes begging), I was able to get the approval of five popular areas on campus (so mom and dad, sorry if my phone bill was crazy high this month). I was only able to attend a registration booth for five minutes in between classes before running to a clinical (where I learned the entire physical assessment of the head and neck), but the committee members did a great job representing relay at each station and we registered another 20 people today. We raised in total another $500 dollars, surpassing the $5,000 mark in our fundraising. Today we also released our Relay promotion video. Since it is olympic themed this year, we made a video of us going all around campus with an olympic torch. We also got a lot of student clubs to be in the video, wearing purple gloves (the historic Relay for Life color) to show their support. There is not yet a link to the video but I will include it in my next post once I get it!

Day 307: Bristol Lodge Time

Today, being the 4th Thursday of the month, is St. Jude's day for feeding the homeless at Bristol Lodge. It is the first day that I'm not worrying whether everyone will have their food ready as the new ladies are "in charge!" I did agree to help out one of the ladies and pick up her food as she is slightly incapacitated, so it was quite a bit easier with a lesser load. Since I was there just before the new leaders, I set up the food that was already there. Sandra and Rose came in and got right down to business and I left with a good feeling that all will go well under the new leadership.

Day 306: Navajo Nation

Hello, Olivia here.

Just as I am going on a Loyola service trip to New Orleans in March, my roommate Katelynn is participating in a trip in Navajo Nation. This area is spread 27,000 square miles in NM, AZ and UT. Specifically, she will be at a Native American Reservation in New Mexico. She will be working in a school with children and will learn a lot about Native American culture (in fact, she's part Native American!). For her trip, she has asked friends and family to donate old shirts to give to students and families in the Reservation. I have plenty of t-shirts to spare, so I was glad to give a few to her!

Day 305: Hope For A Family Donation

Today I made our monthly payment to support someone with one of my favorite names:  Claudia Margarita Moreno Ibarra.  Sometimes you wonder where the money goes when you contribute to a cause, but getting Claudia's letters makes our support for her very satisfying.  It's easy to forget how much we have, and how easy it is for a small donation to have a big impact. 
Good luck Claudia!

http://www.hopeforafamily.org/

Day 304: Helping the American Heart Association

About a month ago, I received my call to solicit from the neighbors for the American Heart Association. They get you early and often. I have committed to do this in memory of my own Mother who died of a heart problem. Today was the day! My list had 15 houses on it, but their list is not too up to date as one had moved, one was deceased about 3 years ago, and one was seriously ill in rehab. So, I got busy and addressed my two sets of envelopes, put in the information and stamped them. It's really not too time consuming and I really don't mind helping out, but this noontime, before I was finished, I received a call from the Diabetic chairman lining me up to do the same for them next month.( I do that one for Buppa's twin brother who was a diabetic.) The neighbors will be sick of me, but I'm giving it my best effort.

Day 303: Sophia and Paul at Special Olympics

Hello, it is Sophia!

Today I joined Dad to go to coaching the  Special Olympics team where he volunteers. For some reason, today the total amount of swimmers and coaches was cut in half so I got to help with a smaller group of people. I stayed next to him in his "lane of ladies" and watched the talented swimmers. All the people in his lane were working so hard and when my dad told them a correction, they would do their best to fix it. The swimmers were so enthusiastic and ready to go that it was inspiring. Some people there, you wouldn't even know had a mental disability! The swimmers did different drills as using the kick boards and working on their kicks, doing sets of IMs, using pull buoys (two cylinders of foam attached to each other that you put in-between your legs to help you float) or just plain 200 yards! It was a great experience and I would really like to do it again.

Day 302: Hospice Training Complete!!

Well it appears I'm "officially trained" as today I just completed my final on-line training course! The material covered a wide range of topics including reviews of Infection Control, Blood and Respitory pathogens, Medical Device Reporting and Boundaries in Pateint Care. (in case anyone was possibly unsure....."sex with patients or family members is NEVER appropriate" )  Seriously, I considered that a "gift question" on the test...but all the questions weren't quite so easy.   I now feel like maybe I can go hang out with Bianca at the UPenn School of Nursing!!  All that's left before I am certified is to take my TB test and then I will be assigned to a couple of patients at one of the Asera Care affiliated nursing home.  Getting nervous....but still quite excited about this new venture.

http://www.aseracare.com/

Day 301: Kohl's Care Program

Today I was shopping at Kohl's and saw that they were offering one of their "Kohl's Cares" fundraising programs that are designed to support community health and education programs for children.  The particular book featured was Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  and all of the net profits of purchasing this book for just $5.00 will go directly to deserving children in needy communities nationwide.  I couldn't resist purchasing this book because, in addition to supporting such an important cause, our family holds so many happy memories attached to reading this book together.  Olivia, Bianca and Sophia were all fans of this adorable, colorful story that they would each eventually memorize, convinced that they were actually reading!  Eric Carle in an incredible artist and Sophia and I were lucky enough to take a day trip to visit his museum out in western MA, which was like entering the pages of his storybooks.  We have saved our Brown Bear book, as well a few other early childhood favorite reads that will hopefully someday resurface to read to grandchildren! In the meantime, I plan to give this new copy to a dear friend who is expecting her first baby in August.  This is the perfect book to start her nursery library.

http://www.kohls.com/

Day 300: AseraCare Training Continues...

Today I attended another 2 hour training session that completed my on-site training at AseraCare Hospice. 
I still have to take two more on line courses and get my TB test.....but I'd say I'm down the homestretch for being a certified Hospice Volunteer!  Today's focus was on the actual "patient visit" and we learned more about the varying types of patients in the program as well as how the different diseases they have affect their mood, attention span, spirit and family situations. So many fascinating stories were shared by the volunteer coordinator who has experienced a lot in her seven years with hospice.  It made me think alot about Marie, and how her final days and hours were spent.  I remember Diane telling us all that "the hearing is last to go, so keep talking to her."  This point was brought up in the training and some incredibly moving examples of patients responding to familiar voices in the phase of what is called "active dying" was truly amazing. 
There were also so many stories that reminded me of Papa's situation, and Nannies hospital scare as well.  Indeed we are all exposed to so much death and dying by our midlife years that this sort of training is really invaluable. Although this commitment (which really hasn't even begun!) is proving to require a lot more time  than I anticipated, I know I made the right choice in signing on. 

http://www.aseracare.com/

Day 299: More Hospice Training

Wow!  I can't believe it'sday 300 of our Service Challenge 365!!

As planned, I continued my Aseracare Hospice training today by taking another on line course called "Spirituality in Caring and Giving".  It was really quite fascinating as I learned that Hospice organizations do not define spirituality within a religious context.  These professionals recognize spirituality as how an individual thinks about suffering in the world; how people see suffering in the lives of others and themselves.  Often this involves a higher being, but not always.  Apparently, there just aren't enough chaplains to provide all the spiritual companionship needed for those in a hospice program; hence, the volunteer training includes lessons in sympathy, empathy and compassion. There's also a lot of learning regarding treating "the whole person" and not just the disease. Frankly, I think most of the population would benefit from a course like this! Thank goodness I passed.  So now I have two classes down and two more to complete.  Tomorrow I return to the Aseracare offices for another seminar......to be continued......

http://www.aseracare.com/

Day 298: On-Line Training for Hospice Volunteering

Today I was able to block a couple of hours to continue with my orientation training to be a volunteer at Aseracare Hospice.  I am required to read a thick folder of materials as well as take four on-line courses through Aseracare University.  Today I completed the course "Communicating With The Elderly".  I am pleased to say that I got 100% correct on the exam; so all the current seniors in my life can rest assured that I will know how to communicate with them if they ever actually become elderly!!!  I learned a fascinating fact:  55% of any intended communication is done with body language; 38 %  with voice tone and only 7% through your actual words.  So like the adage goes..."It's not what you say; but how you say it".
This was the first time I've ever taken a course on line as it was not an option when I was a student almost 30 years ago!  I found it very relaxing to be able to sit in my cozy robe, sip my morning coffee and manage the pace of the class with just a simple click of the mouse.   Tomorrow I'll be taking another course...hmm...should I choose the class about the grief process or the one about spirituality and giving?
Guess I'll just surprise myself and everyone else tomorrow!

http://www.aseracare.com/

Day 297: Phone-a-thon for Relay

Tonight, the Relay for Life Board members and the Recruitment Committee got together and had a 2 hour phone a thon. Using the records from last year, we called all of the 2011 Relay captains, thanking them for their participation last year and asking if they would consider either being a team captain for this year or at least signing up to be on a team. There were about 200 team captains from last year. Lots of them did not pick up or had graduated, but we got a hold of some who said they would be willing to sign up again. I felt like a true telemarketer making all of these calls one after another- reading off of a script, no less! After sending all of the follow up emails, we will hopefully see a sharp increase in fundraising and participants. So far, we have registered 60 participants composing 26 teams, and $3,563. Not bad for 75 days left! So far, my team has raised $30. For more information on UPenn's Relay this year, feel free to browse the link below!

www.relayatpenn.org

Day 296: Helping Catholic Charities

Today, the second collection at our parish was for the local" Catholic Charities Organization". We were happy to help out this organization because of all the good things they do. We have been involved with a few things directly and indirectly. Directly, is the annual Baby Shower that we have at St. Jude's over Mother's Day when we collect all types of baby items for the less fortunate of the diocese. Most everyone loves this project as we have a terrific response from many of the parish and we have been doing this for over 15 years. The indirect connection is that over 40 years ago dear friends (childless for quite a few years) finally got a long awaited call from Catholic Charities that a beautiful baby boy, Timmy, was waiting to join their family. I'm sure they too have a warm spot for Catholic Charities

Day 295: In2Books Letter

Hi! Recently, I was paired with a student from the In2Books organization that lets adults and children become pen pals and read books together. My student, also named Olivia, and I read "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns". It was about a boy who gets a garden for his birthday from his mother, and how he learns to plant flowers as well as test true friendships, during the spring months. In my letter to Olivia, I was able to ask compelling questions and tell her my opinion about some of the parts of the book. I also asked her to think about some open ended questions. The story taught readers valuable lessons about trust, friendships, and learning new activities. "Jackson Jones" was a funny, relatable, and simple read that I hope Olivia enjoyed as much as I did!

Day 294: Special Olympics Partner

Nana and Buppa here. Today, we sent our membership renewal donation to the Special Olympics. We have been a Partner since 2001! It's a great organization as we hear from Paul and others who physically help the program. There is a new family who attend St.Jude's Church and one of the 3 young children is a mentally challenged child. He is the oldest of the children and very small for his age. He is just adorable--blonde hair, glasses and still sucks his index finger when things get tough (long sermon, etc!) The parents have enrolled him in St. Jude's Kindergarten class and the principal told me some of the children went home and told their parents that "we have a baby in our class!"but they all love him. We have been blessed with healthy children, but now each week when we see this family, I am glad that we are involved with the Special Olympics and maybe someday, little Danny (our new friend) will be helped by the programs that the Special Olympics provide.

Day 293: Training For Hospice Volunteering

Today was my first day of a three day training program I have committed to with Asera Care to become a volunteer.  It was an intense, 2 1/2 hour seminar, where myself and three other first time volunteers were introduced to the Asera Care company values and employee expectations.  Like "what to say and not say to patients and families"...."sometimes you just read the bible or say the rosary to patients", and the like. Fascinating, really.  Sitting around the table, we all had reasons why we want to join the mission. The woman sitting across from me lost her husband two years ago; he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and died one week later.  So sad.  This woman is hoping to become involved as a "Vigil Volunteer" as she knows how important that specific role plays in the final days of life.  Another woman is a graphic designer who specifically wants to participate in the Asera  hospice program that helps families chronicle stories during their final months.  And so on....

They are even looking for "Birthday Bakers" to help celebrate special ocassions with the patients.  Happy to sign me and Sophia up for that gig!!.   Anyways, I do believe it will be a remarkable and totally worthwhile experience.  I return to the training next week   I also have to take some on line classes/tests, a couple of TB tests, and provide more documents to the administrators...so I will be a bit busier than anticipated to get on board as a volunteer.  but still really really looking forward.....Patience is indeed a virtue!

http://www.aseracare.com/

Day 292: Mass Audubon Support

 Since moving to Sherborn over a decade ago, the local Mass Audubon Sanctuary, Broadmoor in Natick, has been considered a our personal  family treasure.  Conveniently located just over a mile from our front door, we have all hiked there at least a zillion times.  The kids have enjoyed school field trips there, we have taken grandparents, cousins, and out-of-town friends there, and Sophia and I even did a Mother's Day Bird Watch/Pancake Breakfast (6:30 AM-yikes!) there one year.  Truth is, Broadmoor has become a special bonding sanctaury for me and the girls, especially Sophia who actually took a Mommy and Me Pajama Hike there one evening, hoping for animal sightings before bedtime.  We have spent so many  memorable afternoons hiking the trails and watching the painted turtles, redwing black birds, chipmunks, mallards, geese and even the occasional snake or heron.  And the conversation along the way is always insightful and special.

We continue to enjoy Broadmoor as adults and just today, Olivia and I spent one of her last days at home before heading back to college taking an awesome,hour long hike through the trails along the Charles River.  Just beautiful; the company and the scenery. So when we got home and I noticed an email to renew our family membership to Mass Audubon, I was happy to oblige.  As a family, we totally support the effort to maintain the beautiful pockets of land that keep us connected with nature. And kudos to the Mass Audobon's effort to encourage us all to live a "greener" lifestyle. 
http://www.massaudubon.org/

Day 291: Supporting Animal Shelters

Hello, it is Sophia! The other day we got a Help Club (a group of students who put together fundraisers) update that this month they will be collecting old blankets and towels for local animal shelters. The blankets will keep the animals warm during this cold season and prevent them from illnesses that can be caught in the cold.  Today I brought in some of our old towels that were still in fine condition. I think I was the first donation so I hope I started a trend!

Day 290: Big Brother Big Sister

Once again, we were able to respond to the monthly phone call to support BBBS.  Since all of our old clothing has recently found new homes, we looked for small household items to contribute.  Found lots of coffee mugs, miscellaneous dishware/pots/pans and some desk/office items that we packed up for the 7:00 AM pick up. And sure enough, while it was still dark at 7:10 AM, there came the BBBS driver to grab our box.

http://www.bbbs.org/

Day 289: Coaching Special Olympics Swim Team

 

 It's that time of year again.  Today was the first practice of the year for the Wellesley STARS.  It was great to see the swimmers and coaches again.  Once again I have been given the lane with the most capable swimmers.  I also have a new swimmer I am looking forward to coaching.  We are going to have a lot of fun this year. 

Day 288: Supporting a friend's Bat Mitzvah project

One of Sophia's friends at her gymnastics club will soon be celebrating her Bat Mitzvah.  Part of the preparation for this rite of passage event is for the candidate to demonstrate a commitment to community service.  The  project initiated by this particular gymnast was to create a "Leotard Collection Program" to support underprivileged children wishing to pursue dance or gymnastics.  She decorated a beautiful box and made a sign welcoming her gymnast friends to consider donating their out-grown leotards to her cause.  Today, we were happy to contribute a leotard that Sophia no longer wears...as she is growing "leaps and bounds"!!!

Day 287: Nana's Hats for NICU Babies

Today at our last visit to Nana and Buppa's before returning to college, I picked up the ten adorable baby hats that Nana has been knitting. Nana first started knitting these hats when Olivia and I were in the NICU at Tuft's Medical Center back in 1992. This time around, she has generously decided to donate them to the NICU at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I have been in touch with the donation coordinator at CHOP and she said the hospital would be more than happy to have the hats. I

am planning to make a trip to the hospital once I get back to campus to deliver them. They are so cute! Hopefully I will be allowed to walk into the NICU to donate them, rather than just a drop-off with the coordinator. I am sure the babies and the families will be very happy to know that someone out there is thinking of them! And they can stay extra warm both during and after their hospital stay.

Day 286: Purchases to Support Special Olympics

It's getting to be that time again...when Paul will start his annual commitment to the Special Olympics Swim Team.  So when we saw in this past Sunday's Globe that the Proctor & Gamble company was supporting the Special Olympics with donating money for every P&G coupon used for certain products, it was clearly a no-brainer to cut out the coupons and make a purchase at our local supermarket (thank you, Olivia for going to Roche Bros; we love Bounty paper towels and other P&G products)  Procter and Gamble has been supporting the Special Olympics for 28 years.  Very impressive.  I wonder if Paul will be able to coach the swimmers for that long!?!

Day 285: Box Tops for Education

Hi it is Sophia!

Today I brought  31 Box-Tops into the office at my middle school, as they still collect Box Tops, which I didn't know until now, but we sitll saved them knowing that we could donate them to Pine Hill.   Box tops are little coupons found on different grocery items that can be cut out and collected. Since each one is worth 10 cents, that is a total of $3.10. Box-Tops for Education is a program where people collect "box-tops" and when they are redeemed, the profits go to your school. The box top money this year is going to the 8th grade to support the special trips they take in the year. I dontate them now because when I am in 8th grade, I hope people bring in box tops for me!!!

Day 284: Count money

Nana here. Well, here it is a new year and a new month, which means it is my groups turn to "count the money" at St. Jude's. Four of us showed up and 2 worked on the 4:00 Mass (as that has the greatest attendance) and the other 2 did a Mass by themselves. Not too much chatting went on, so we were done pretty quickly. Last months group didn't have time to do the coins (only done at the end of the month as not too many coins are dropped in the basket these days) so I did them. Had to laugh at one envelope that had enough pennies, nickles and dimes to make a dollar and the word "Visitor" written on the front of a plain envelope. I guess I shouldn't have laughed, as it could have been the story of the "widows mite" in the gospel and that was all she or he had. The papers we fill out for the office and the money agreed, so we were off to the bank in an hour and fifteen minutes---making up for the many times we make a mistake somewhere and the "volunteer time" doubles.

Day 283: We Day

While watching television one day,  Sophia and I saw a commercial about We Day. It is a non-profit organization that benefits the program "Free the Children". This program promotes children helping children through education. Young people have so much power to create a positive change in the world a little bit at a time. The commercial stated that just by "liking" the Facebook page, sponsors will donate $1 to the organization. Since Sophia does not have a Facebook account, I was glad to "like" the page myself. For more information, visit www.freethechildren.com.

Day 282: Saluting and Supporting "Family Action"

It's New Year's day, which means "new beginnings" to many.  And in our family, we are so thankful that one of our dearest members is starting over, smart and sober,  through the professional support and guidance of a facility in Bakersfield, CA called Family Action.  Today,  we are thrilled to begin 2012 with a simple donation to this organization that supports treatment and recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.  We celebrate "First Day" as a  "Second Chance" for not just someone very dear to our hearts, but for so many once-wonderful people in life who fall victim to the pressures of growing up, fitting in, moving over, or falling under.  May it indeed be a Happy New Year to all!!!!

http://www.familyaction.org/