The FriendShip Newsletter - July 2017Office InformationContact Info: 803-602-6434 or contact@thefriendship.org Regular Hours: The office is open Monday - Friday from 9 a.m - 1 p.m. Eleanor's Hours: Eleanor staffs the office on Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays. (Call or stop by to chat!) Fireflies & The FriendShip (Order tickets by July 27!)Join in a terrific opportunity to enjoy a summer baseball game and support The FriendShip at the same time! Here's how it works: The FriendShip sells tickets to a Columbia Fireflies game and receives 50% of each ticket sold. It's just that easy! Now, we just need you to buy your tickets! Here are the details:
Get a group of family and friends together and come on out to the ballpark! It'll be a fun night out, and you know the money will support a great cause. Welcome to New Board Members & Board UpdatesAs of July 1, The FriendShip is pleased to welcome three new Board members to our ranks. Lucas David is a recent graduate from the University of South Carolina with a Masters in Healthcare Administration. He is the Senior Finance and Grant Manager for Dorn Research Institute, a research non-profit affiliated with the Veterans Administration. Gloria Prevost serves as the Executive Director of Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc., which provides leadership to statewide non-profit organizations. She is responsible for Board development and relations, strategic and program planning, oversight of human resources, public relations, and fiscal activities, as well as legislative and governmental interactions. Her previous professional experiences also include advocacy, training, and volunteer management. Donna Ray is a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and Palmetto Health. Since 2004, she has worked in continuous professional development in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical educational design and assessment. She has special interests in functional assessment of the geriatric patient, patient care, and safety performance improvement processes. She currently serves as the team leader for the Palmetto Health/USC Professionals Accelerating Clinical and Educational Redesign (or PACER) team. In addition to welcoming these new members, The FriendShip has recently elected a new slate of officers to the Board for the 2017-2018 year:
The FriendShip extends sincere gratitude to the Board members--Daniela Friedman, Mary Kelly, and Barbara Mullen--who have rotated off the Board as of June 30. The commitment and expertise that they brought to their leadership roles has meant so much to the organization and the individuals it serves. Thankfully, this is not good-bye, as all three will continue to be involved as volunteers and/or members! August Indoor Picnic (Pleasant Company! Good Food! No Mosquitoes!)For the August Dutch Treat Lunch Outing, The FriendShip invites you to an indoor picnic:
Help Train Future DoctorsHere's a great volunteer opportunity that will give you a role in training future physicians! The University of South Carolina School of Medicine is recruiting Senior Mentors – people aged 65 or older who live in the greater Columbia area. As a volunteer mentor, you will be connected to a pair of medical students to meet several times with them during their first two years of medical education. To learn more, please contact Robin Fiorello by calling 803-216-3614 or emailing Robin.Fiorello@uscmed.sc.edu. The graduating “Class of 2021” medical students will be starting in August, so please contact Robin this week/ASAP! * The FriendShip will provide volunteer drivers to enable members to travel to/from Senior Mentor meetings. (A special plug for this opportunity from Eleanor: I had a good friend who participated in this program and loved it! She enjoyed spending time with the medical students and felt she was able to contribute to their understanding of how to work with older adults.) Senior Center Without Walls Summer SessionThe new session of Senior Center Without Walls started on July 10, and it's not too late to register to try out any of the classes or groups. All you need to join is a phone! You will be impressed by how many different kinds of offerings there are--games; reading, writing, and storytelling groups; health and wellness classes; virtual museum tours; and special topics classes on things like art, gardening, and more! There are both weekly groups and one-time classes, and all are led by a trained facilitator. Visit http://www.seniorcenterwithoutwalls.org/current-session/ to see the current list of offerings. Or, call The FriendShip office for a hard copy of the catalogue or if you would like help in registering. (It is really easy to get started!) Services Coordinator's UpdatesEven after just a few months here, it's clear to me that The FriendShip has such a meaningful impact on everyone in our network, members and volunteers alike. As one of our members, Frances Motte, recently told me, "Joining The FriendShip was the best investment I've ever made!" Well, that says it in a nutshell! This powerful testimony goes a long way in demonstrating to current and potential supporters how important The FriendShip is--and we want to include quotes like this in our forthcoming Annual Report. Please send along quotes about how The FriendShip has made a difference in your life! In addition to this request for quotes, I have a couple of other updates for you all. First of all, if you are a social media user and haven't already done so, please be sure to like The FriendShip (@thefriendshipcolumbia) on Facebook to stay connected and help spread the word about what we do. Also, The FriendShip received a donation from the Five Points Rotary earlier this summer and is grateful to have this continued support. If you have friends and neighbors who are a part of the Five Points Rotary, please pass on a personal thank you to let them know firsthand how important their support is to our network of members and volunteers. Speaking of community partnerships, I'd also like to share that The FriendShip was invited to speak to the Forest Acres Rotary on July 12. It was an excellent opportunity to share information about The FriendShip. If you have other suggestions about groups that would like a presentation, email me, and I can pass on that information to the Outreach Committee. Finally, it is my sad duty to share that one of our members, Marie Zeun, passed away earlier this year. The FriendShip sends its deepest sympathies to her family and friends. - Eleanor |