By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
JACKSON – The Adopt A Senior organization of Jackson has been named the 2016 national Volunteer Group of the Year by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL).
Adopt A Senior and other organizations will be honored at the 67th annual AHCA/NCAL convention in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 19.
Adopt A Senior was started by Bill Cowen, of Jackson, and Annye Cohen, of Brooklyn, N.Y. It is an extension of an Adopt A Senior holiday program that has been in place for more than a decade at the Riverside Premier Rehabilitation and Healing Center in Manhattan.
Adopt A Senior’s board includes Cohen, president; Cowen, treasurer; Sharyn Cohen, vice president; Bob Tretter, vice president; Meagan Conway, communication director; and Jill O’Toole, secretary and director.
Locally, Adopt A Senior participates in a birthday party patrol at Bartley Healthcare in Jackson.
“The award recognizes an organization that has provided group volunteer services with (a) facility’s residents,” Cohen said of the AHCA/NCAL honor. “Winners should have an impact on the residents, have personal involvement with the residents, encourage others to volunteer and go above and beyond the call of duty, and most importantly, improve the quality of the lives of the residents.
“We were honored to have been nominated by Bartley Healthcare for the American Health Care Association 2016 Volunteer Group of the Year for our monthly birthday party patrol,” Cohen said. “Our Board of Directors members are all heading to Nashville in October and are thrilled to have been chosen as the winner of the award. We are so happy that people are embracing our message that ‘Seniors Should Never Be Forgotten.’ ”
“We are thrilled to have been nominated by Bartley Healthcare and selected by the AHCA. We love what we do and it is wonderful to be recognized for it,” Cowen said.
Adopt A Senior received the 2015 Volunteer Team of the Year award from the Health Care Association of New Jersey after being nominated by Bartley Healthcare administrators. That recognition allowed the organization to be eligible for the national award in October.
The group’s members delivered more than 450 birthday gifts to residents through July and the organization celebrated one year of visiting Bartley Healthcare in May with a party.
In July, Adopt A Senior debuted a Travel Talk seminar at Bartley Healthcare.
“We decided to take the residents to Hawaii without leaving the facility,” Cohen said. “We gave each resident a lei when they entered the recreation room, and photos and a history about Hawaii. We also gave each resident who attended a Hawaiian tote bag, and a pad and pen, and we ended our seminar by handing out cupcakes with pineapple decorations.
“The response from the residents was overwhelming so we are going to continue to do this every other month. Our September Travel Talk will be a Caribbean Cruise to Bermuda, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Puerto Rico.”
Adopt A Senior plans to add 200 senior citizens to its program and will now deliver holiday gifts and birthday gifts to about 1,000 seniors.
“We are so proud of this great accomplishment we have achieved,” Cohen said, referring to the national award. “We started (serving) 400 seniors in 2014, we went to 800 seniors in 2015, and now we are up to 1,000 seniors in 2016.”
Anyone who is interested in shopping for a senior for the holidays may email [email protected] or call 347-365-0633. An individual may donate $50 to provide a senior with a holiday gift, a birthday gift and two seasonal gifts with personalized cards. Donations may be made at www.adopt-a-senior.org via Paypal.