Winter 2018 Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Special points of interest: Over 1,100 nonperishable food items were collected this year MLK Day of Service Food Drive This year s annual food drive to replenish food pantries exceeded our expectations again! There were over 1,100 nonperishable food items sorted counted and boxed for a few of our food pantries. Volunteers spent Tuesday, January 16th at the Central Ridge Community Center sorting through boxes and bags of food to pack up for Citrus United Basket (CUB), Daystar, Family Resource Center, and CASA. We are so proud of our volunteers for working so hard to help out with this much needed project. Inside this issue: Welcome New Volunteers 2 Senior Companion Program Highlights Volunteer Fair Flyer 4 Welcome Humanitarians 5 Volunteer Recognition 6 Volunteer Recognition 7 Special Needs Call Down 8 Thank you to special a volunteer Travel Voucher 9 Helpful Hints 10 Web Assist 11 3 8 See page 6 for more photos of volunteers in action. Volunteers are Stars Our annual Volunteer Recognition event was held on March 8th at the Central Ridge Community Center. The theme this year was Volunteers are Stars. Lunch was catered by John Mason Catering. See pages 6 and 7 for photos of the event. A good time was had by all.
Page 2 Welcome New Volunteers Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Diane Blackwell Richard Burton Judith Colbaugh Theresa Cornett Melodyne Faucher Margo Ferraiola Joe Fornino III Sharon Garrett Gerald Gneckow Patricia Gneckow Marilynn Green James Grimes Barbara Guy James Guy Becky Holstein Linda Kirkey Cathy LaPaugh Anita Laughrey Virginia Lorenzi Terry Mahood Rachel McKay Glennell Munne Mary Murphy Mary O Hanlon Jim Pachmayer Ruth Palmer Joyce Pegram Phyllis Pellegrom Barbara Perkins Natalie Prouty Exie Ramos Josie Resnick Amalia Rodriguez Thrisna Singh Wilma Smith Helen Stamas Angela Temple Bruce Templa Bette Tillotson Raya Van Schoick Alex Vaughn Lori Vaughn Twila Vaughn Marianne Vincelli Lisa Vinson Dale White NCVC Staff Laurie Diestler NCVC Supervisor RSVP Project Director (352) 527-5952 Rhonda Noel Sr. Program Assistant RSVP & SCP (352) 527-5955 Main Line Phone: (352) 527-5959 Fax: (352) 527-5908 Friends of NCVC & RSVP Advisory Board Bruce Chadbourne President Ron Kornatowski Sandy Plumadore Jan Squires Vice President Secretary Treasurer Dee Cornell Board Members At-Large Joanne Granger Support Services Find us on the web www.naturecoastvolunteercenter.org
Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Page 3 The Senior Companions have been busy serving clients as well as participating in our special Days of Service, such as collecting food for our annual food drive for MLK Jr. Day. Our Companions are serving a minimum of 16 hours per week, helping their clients live independently. We recently welcomed a new Companion to the program, Exie Ramos. Exie has completed her required training hours and is out in the community serving her clients. Welcome to the Senior Companion Program! Department of Elder Affairs recognizes years of service The Florida Department of Elder Affairs recently recognized Senior Companions with Years of Service pins for volunteer service as of June 30, 2017. We are proud of the following Companions who had at least 5 years of service in this capacity: Jean MacDougall (7 years), Sarah O Connor (8 years), Sondra Price (8 years), George Scalzi (9 years), Shirley Strunk (7 years), and Nancy Wessel (8 years). Those who have been with the program more than three years were also recognized with a 3-year pin: Faye Profit (4 years), and Sue Simms (4 years). One year pins were also given to Raoul Borgonetti (2 years), Lisa Doherty (1 year), and Bonnie Pilkington (1 year). Senior Companions enjoyed private tour of Historic Courthouse In February the Senior Companions enjoyed a history lesson and tour at the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum in Inverness. The tour was given by Kathy Turner-Thompson, who shared a wealth of information with the Companions about the history of Florida and our county. Along the tour they were able to view the Pre-history Gallery, Local History Gallery, and visit the records vault to learn about historic preservation. Pictured here are the Companions and their special guest.
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Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Page 5 MLK Day of Service cont. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked, What are you doing for others?, our volunteers answered the call. Thank you to all who helped. We couldn t have done it without you! Welcome Humanitarians of Florida! We recently welcomed the Humanitarians of Florida as an RSVP site. Humanitarians of Florida, Inc., is a 501(c)(3), all volunteer organization dedicated to helping animals. The clinic is located in Lecanto at 1031 N. Commerce Terrace. At this time they are looking for volunteers who are willing to greet customers, have them sign in as they arrive for their pets appointment, and help out occasionally with their school program. If you are interested in volunteering at Humanitarians, please give them a call at (352) 563-2370.
Page 6 Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Ron Kornatowski (top left), Maureen Le Mons (top right), Mary Stiles (bottom left), and Linda Elliott (bottom right), each received the Presidential Service Award from Commissioner Ron Kitchen. The Award is given to those volunteers who have served over 4,000 lifetime hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Page 7 Citrus County Libraries celebrate volunteers with recognition event
Page 8 Special Needs Call Down Drill Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program In early December RSVP staff from the Citrus County Library System assisted the Citrus County Sheriff s Office s Emergency Management Division with a semiannual call out to residents who have registered with the Special Needs Program. This event is held twice a year to ensure the Sheriff s Office has updated information on the program participants. In the case of an actual emergency, those in affected areas would be called with a scripted message from Emergency Management. If you know someone who would like more information about registering with the Sheriff s Office, please have them call Summer Wyllie at (352) 249-2705. The next drill will be conducted on June 7, 2018. If you would like to get involved with this call out in the future, contact our office at (352) 527-5959. We need your help with the annual Two Good Soles Socks & Shoes Drive! Boxes will need to be delivered (Week of July 30th) Shoes & socks will need to be picked up and delivered to the Resource Center (on 9/11) Call us if you can help out this year (352) 527-5959 A Special Thank You to a Special Volunteer Barbara Becker recently stepped up to help a Senior Companion client in need of alterations to his clothing. Our client struggles with small motor skill tasks and asked his Companion if she could find someone to replace the buttons on his slacks with Velcro. His Companion, Judy, called the office and Rhonda made some calls to the American Sewing Guild. Barbara volunteered right away to help with these alterations. After the slacks were dropped off at the office, a few at a time, Barbara picked them up, made the alterations, and dropped them back off to our office. Our client is so very pleased with the job Barbara did! Remember, sometimes it s the little things that mean a lot!
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Nature Coast Volunteer Center and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program Page 10 Helpful Hints for Completing RSVP Travel Vouchers: 1. RSVP Travel vouchers must be original documents. No copies or faxes will be processed. 2. All RSVP travel vouchers must be completed using a blue ink pen. (No pencil or markers) 3. Remember to sign in the Volunteer Signature space, and have an Authorized Signature from the station. 4. Do not use white out. To make a correction, draw a line through any incorrect information, write the correction, then initial the error. Please do not use ditto marks in the miles column. 5. In order to provide this partial mileage reimbursement to as many volunteers as possible, while at the same time maximizing the use of grant travel dollars, the maximum reimbursement is $200 per volunteer per grant year (July 1 June 30). Please note: The maximum yearly reimbursement, and possible seasonal adjustment reimbursement rate may fluctuate according to the current balance of grant travel dollars. 6. Only travel within Citrus County may be considered for reimbursement. If applicable, indicate to/from county line. 7. On the Home to. & Home line, indicate the address, place or station where you volunteered. 8. Partial mileage reimbursement is only available from your home to your volunteer site and from your volunteer site directly back to your home, per the RSVP Operations Handbook. 9. If travel does not total at least 32 miles during one month, you may wait until the next month to submit a travel voucher so that your request will meet the $5 minimum required for processing. Please submit your RSVP travel vouchers in a timely manner. Call 352-527-5959 or visit our office if you need help completing your travel voucher or if we can be of further assistance to you.
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FRIENDS OF THE NATURE COAST VOLUNTEER CENTER P.O. BOX 640683 BEVERLY HILLS, FL 34464 NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID LECANTO, FL 34461 PERMIT NO. 121 Thank you to these sponsors and partners for their support! Friends of the Nature Coast Volunteer Center & RSVP Advisory Board