ThisWeek CW 05/23/2012
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/22/community-care-day-program-bonds-cw-senior-citizens-and-students.html
The Canal Winchester High School Football Team spent Saturday tackling chores instead of opponents during this year’s Community Care Day.
Canal Winchester Human Services once again partnered with the football team for this fourth annual event to benefit senior citizens living in the city.
“We started this partnership about five years ago, called Seniors to Seniors,” said Penny Miller, CW Human Services director.
“It’s a way for us to put the high school kids together with senior citizen residents and create relationships working together.”
Almost 50 football players participated in the Community Care Day, working at 15 different residences around the city including the senior housing at David’s Way, Miller said.
The senior citizens choose which outdoor chores they’d like the kids to take on.
“The senior citizens provide whatever is necessary for the boys to do the chores, like buying plants or mulch, providing window washing materials and such,” Miller said.
“The team provides the labor,” she said.
“It’s mainly weeding, mulching, cleaning porches — whatever the seniors need to have done to get their outside ready for the summer.”
The kids worked until noon, returning to the Community Center for a pizza lunch and a chance to talk about their experiences.
Everyone agreed that both the kids and the senior citizens look forward to this event.
“The senior citizens get work done that otherwise wouldn’t be and they really look forward to the interaction with the kids,” Miller said.
“Some of them bake cookies and have pop for the kids,” she said.
“The football players look forward to it too, several of them have done this for a couple years now and request to help the same seniors because they’ve made a bond.”
And that bond, Miller said, continues beyond just this one day.
“In the fall during football season the team has a meal together before each game,” Miller said.
“So these same senior citizens started a tradition a couple years ago to reciprocate for this work at the meal before the first game of the season,” she said.
“The seniors prepare all of the food for the meal and serve it to the boys, and the relationship continues.
“How many opportunities do you have to match high school kids with older people like this?”
Human Services next event will be Pack the Pantry, the morning of June 19, in support of the Community Food Pantry.
The event takes place at the fire station where residents can drive through with donations without getting out of their car.
Miller said summer is hard on the pantry.
“The summer is the hardest time of the year because kids are home from school, so there isn’t school lunch and the parents have to provide that third meal.” she said.
“The pantry empties significantly faster and we need more donations to keep up with that demand,” Miller said.