Caregivers Month - Activities for YOU!

November is National Caregivers Month

Rosener House Special Events fo YOU!

There is a waiting list forming for very few spots left. 

Call Rosener House right away!

(650) 322-0126

Sponsored by 

Meals On Wheels - Behind the Scenes

Students from Language Pacifica School volunteered their time and energy to move and organize supplies for Meals On Wheels.  

All of our programs offer various “behind the scenes” volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups. Just ask how you can help! Call (650) 322-0129 or email volunteer@peninsulavolunteers.org

Little Shop Sidewalk Sale

Halloween Ball

Meals on Wheels Blanket Bonanza!

NBC Reporter Bob Redell & Supervisor Don Horsley

Deliver Blankets to Meals on Wheels Recipients

Just in time for the cool weather, County Supervisor Don Horsley teamed up with NBC Reporter Bob Redell and Carlsen Subaru General Manager Todd Parkinson to deliver warm blankets right to their doors. Everybody had fun - what a terrific gift, warmth. 

So now you can truly say we deliver a warm meal and a warm blanket, along with the warm human company.

Click here to view the live broadcast, courtesy of NBC Bay Area.

Why Are These Women Smiling?

Peninsula Volunteers Meals On Wheels is delivering a warm winter blanket to all our regular food recipients next week!  
Starting Tuesday, October 11th, everyone on our Meals on Wheels routes - from East Palo Alto through Belmont - will be receiving a nice warm blanket, along with their tasty meals. 

Peninsula Volunteers Pat Grillos, Linda Drew
and Meals on Wheels Chair Jackie Scandalios
 in front of a shed full of blankets.

Last year at our "Mayors for Meals" event, Supervisor Don Horsley noticed how cold some of their houses were. When he inquired, he found that many of the seniors and disabled adults were turning off their heat to save precious dollars. Even worse, he saw that some of them didn't have a blanket to keep them warm!

That's when Peninsula Volunteers Linda Drew and Pat Grillos swung into action. They created a fundraising event just to buy blankets and were very successful. This week Meals on Wheels will return to those cold homes and give a gift of warmth.

On Tuesday, NBC Bay Area Reporter Bob Redell will join Supervisor Don Horsley in kicking off the blanket delivery drive. Carlsen Subaru Manager Todd Parkinson will drive them to select homes to publicize how important it is that we truly take care of our most vulnerable home-bound citizens. Look for them in the news on Tuesday and send your best wishes along with them to those who need our help the most!

Meals on Wheels Director Marilyn
Baker-Venturini engulfed by all the blankets.

For your information, NBC/Comcast and Subaru are both partnering with Peninsula Volunteers Meals on Wheels this year. Supervisor Don Horsley is a longtime supporter of the program, having someone very close to him as a recipient for years.


For more information on the blanket drive call: Pennie Lundberg, Director of Development at 650-326-0665 ext. 231. We can use YOUR support!

Jackie Scandalios & Pat Grillos packing the blankets.

Homecare California and Zero Barriers

Little House Community Forum

 Featuring Homecare California and Zero Barriers

        

        Date:       Wednesday, October 12, 2011

        Time:      11:00 am to 12:00 pm

        Place:     Little House Activity Center

                         800 Middle Ave. Menlo Park, Ca

NEW EVENING CLASS - CERAMICS FOR FUN

Handmade ceramics and pottery can be a very gratifying hobby that produces fun and satisfying results. For many people, it's an enjoyable release that is created by working an inanimate mound of clay into a beautiful work of art that you made through your artistic abilities.

Our instructor, Margie Starr Calabretta, has been working with clay for over 40 years. She has taught classes up and down the Peninsula and is well-known within the community.

Please call Little House for more information on this incredible opportunity to use your hands and bring the images in your mind to life.

Date: 4 weeks, begins October 4, 2011 and ends October 25, 2011
Time: Tuesdays, 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Little House, The Roslyn G. Morris Activity Center
Cost: $60.00 per session, or $15.00 per class
Info: Julie Scales, (650) 326-2025 ext. 229

NEW CLASS - GETTING TO KNOW YOUR FAMILY

We get great satisfaction and fun from knowing 

the history of our ancestors 

— where they lived, how they managed their challenges, and why you have that family heirloom. This series of genealogy classes will get you started and well on your way to a delightful excursion of a life time.

Instructor: Richard D. Rands, Director of the Los Altos Family History Center

*** Bring your laptop to class if you own one. WiFi available. ***

Date: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00 to 11:30 AM
            October 11 - December 22, 2011, 10 weeks
Location: Little House, The Roslyn G. Morris Activity Center
Cost: $90.00 members/$99.00 non-members

For more information call: Julie Scales, (650) 326-2025 ext. 229

Alzheimer's Walk is a Huge Success

We don't know the final figures on how much was raised at the annual Walk to End Alzheimer's Disease this past weekend. Nor do we yet know how much was raised on behalf of our Rosener House in particular.

What we do know is that tens of thousands of people in the Bay Area responded to all the publicity and showed up to "walk the walk"!

Here is a cute picture of our own "Team Rosener House".

Yes, that is Shayna our wonderful Pet Therapist in the bottom of the picture. She wouldn't hear of leaving her Rosener House friends behind!

Walmart Donates Emergency Generator

Thanks to a generous donation (and much help) from Walmart, through our association with Meals on Wheels Association of America, we now have an emergency generator for our Peninsula Volunteers Meals on Wheels program!

People's lives depend on our daily delivery of hot, nutritious and SAFE meals to their homes. For home-bound seniors and disabled adults, who cannot shop, cook, or store food for themselves, this is often the major  nutrition they get each day. For some it's their ONLY meal each day! That makes our Meals on Wheels deliveries a life-saver (along with the daily personal safety check our drivers make at each home.)

So what would happen if the electricity at our kitchens at Little House were to stop or brown out? Our refrigerator and food-safe packaging machinery wouldn't run and we would have to cancel that life-giving meal.

Now, thanks to Walmart, that won't ever happen. THANK YOU, WALMART!

For more information visit our Peninsula Volunteers Meals on Wheels page, or call: 650-323-2022.

For your further reading: Mercurynews.com and the Palo Alto Daily News ran an article on September 21st about the donation: http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18942100?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

Peninsula Volunteers Wants YOU to Volunteer!

 The Community Services Desk at Little House offers information and resources to family members and care givers of older adults. It also schedules appointments for Little House services such as podiatrist, acupuncture and massage and provides SamTrans and Menlo Park Shuttle schedules.

Volunteers like Helena (shown here) look forward to helping others in a relaxed and comfortable setting every Monday- Friday 10am-2pm.  Come visit and see for yourself!

TO VOLUNTEER FOR LITTLE HOUSE, ROSENER HOUSE OR MEALS ON WHEELS PLEASE CONTACT: Mary Rached, Director Community Volunteer Program at mrached@peninsulavolunteers.org   650-322-0129

Luau at Rosener House - the Tongan Connection

Peninsula Volunteers Rosener House’s annual Luau was the perfect opportunity for volunteer Lousiale Uasike to share her Tongan culture and dance. Lou is an assistance minister for the Tongan Free Wesleyan Church - Tapanakkale, Redwood City and willing to extend her ministry to the community and specifically, at Rosener House. For over a year, she has been a calm and caring presence- giving her time each week, extra help to the activities staff and many smiles to the participants. To more information about volunteering visit www.penvol.org

Picture Yourself as Doing Good in Your World

Meals on Wheels
Volunteer Drivers Needed!

Check in on a homebound senior and bring a hot meal along with your smile!

Delivery routes consist of 10-15 clients in the mid-Peninsula area. Pick up meals from our Menlo Park facility at Little House.  Volunteers provide their own cars, gas, proof of insurance and release for background check.  We are currently looking for a once a week driver M-F; 9:30am-Noon; 6 month commitment

Join the Rosener House Fun 
Volunteer Mondays 10AM-1PM

Assist staff with music, art, fitness and other activities for participants in our adult day care program. Socialize, help serve lunch or take a walk in the park! Piano or guitar talent is a plus.  

To volunteer for our programs, contact Mary Rached, Director of Community Volunteers     (650) 322-1029    mrached@peninsulavolunteers.org   

Sizzling September at Little House

Tuesday Teas at Little House

1:30 to 2:30 PM (NOTE: new time)

Location:                    Little House, The Roslyn G. Morris Activity Center

Cost:                           $2 members/$3 non-members

Info:                            Julie Scales, (650) 326-2025 ext. 229

The Original 3 Tenors Concert DVD

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

To whet your appetite for Opera San Jose’s presentation on September 13th, we are showing the fabulous DVD of The Original Three Tenors Concert. In this performance touted by some as the greatest classical concert in modern times, tenors Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras, along with conductor Zubin Mehta, join forces in celebration of the World Cup Soccer. 

Photo courtesy of 
Opera San Jose and Chris Ayers.

Opera San Jose

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Principal artists from Opera San Jose showcase selections from the company’s 2010-11 season. They include Mozart’s Idomeno, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Poulend’s La Voix Humaine, Verdi’s La Traviata, and Gounod’s Faust. At the end of the program, there will be an opportunity for audience questions to the artists.

Larry Hayes - Publisher 

Active Over 50 Magazine

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Join us to learn about the creation of the magazine, Active Over 50. Larry Hayes, publisher/editor, started the quarterly magazine six years ago, which has since grown to over 200,000 readers. “Older adults are not done; they’re doing incredible things and they inspire me,” he said. People in his magazine give him the drive to keep going at 71.

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Have you ever wondered about the training and gifting of a dog for a blind person? Lynette Kersey, will tell  how she came to receive her very best friend and guide dog, Logan, a three year old Golden Labrador. Logan will here so you can meet in person this trusted, loved companion of Lynette’s. 

In The Little House Galleries

  Discoveryscapes After Insecta 

Prints by Foster Beigler

In the on going series, Discoveryscapes After Insecta, I am working with traditional linoleum and woodcut materials. I have a sense of connection with what went before, and also a connection with the digital age. I derive a sense of pleasure and exclusion from the world around me as my hands guide me while carving out thousands of little pieces of material from the flat surface of wood or linoleum. 

Foster Beigler is a multi-media artist. She spent twenty-five years in international television as a photojournalist, an occupation that allowed her to travel the world extensively. She documented and published worldwide on twelve sets of Olympic Games covering the advances in television technology.

Luau was a Lu-WOW! at Little House

Over 100 guests turned out in their best Hawaiian shirts and skirts to sip mai-tais, dine on high island cuisine by Chef Larry Wong, be entertained by the Pacific Islander Performers, a Ukulele concert during dinner, and dance to the Jerry Jay Quartet.

  

Needless to say, "A great time was had by all!"

Volunteering at PV Unites the Generations

Friends, there's nothing like giving of your time and caring as a volunteer. At Peninsula Volunteers the word "volunteers" is not just for show - it's the heart of what we are!


There's an old joke regarding grandparents and grandchildren about why they get along so well: they have a "common enemy", the parents generation in between. All kidding aside, the feelings of being hustled aside when their brains and hearts and creativity are flowering are common to both the generations. Given the chance, they relate exceptionally well.

The story in the Menlo Park Patch is a very good illustration of that.  Menlo Park Patch story about volunteering at PV.


Here's another one for you: Jacob and Chrissy Andriola of YMSL (Young Men’s Service League) prepare food for Peninsula Volunteers Meals on Wheels. The newly formed chapter of the national service organization pairs teenage boys with their moms to help others in the community.

If you would like to volunteer yourself (we need hundreds every year) or know someone who would like to do so, please call our Director of Community Volunteering, Mary Rached: (650) 322-0129 or email her at: mrached@peninsulavolunteers.org

“Raise the Roof” On Little House

Peninsula Volunteers Launches Online Campaign

          

In the true tradition of the old-fashioned barn raisers, Little House, aka the Roslyn Morris Activity Center, has invited the community at large to help replace the roof of the building, long in need of repair.

As part of this campaign we are, for the first time, offering a specific online donation

opportunity with funds directed toward roof construction. Through an Angel donor we have secured half the cost of the roof - $75,000 – and are seeking to raise the remainder from online, direct mail, events and other angel investors in the community.

For a donation of $100 or more, you will receive our monthly Little House Newsletter, giving you information on the myriad of classes offered to adults of all ages – everything from a physical “boot camp” to French and Italian lessons, woodshop, lapidary and ceramic classes, a café serving nutritious lunches 5 days per week, to rousing games of Bingo, cards, dominoes, and much, much more.

 A donation of $250 or more will include the newsletter subscription AND a one year membership to Little House.  You may either use the subscription yourself or we will assist to donate it to a local citizen.  All donors of $50 or more will receive a listed acknowledgement of roof benefactors at a

special area of Little House.

Watch for the Little House icon on our website with the roof being built before your eyes as the donations increase!  Donate to your community, become involved, and help make our building safe!

DONATE TO LITTLE HOUSE ROOF HERE

Fun with Clay at Little House

 

You think you can't do ceramics? Think again! Margie Calabretta, our Ceramics Instructor, shows you just a few techniques you can learn at Little House in our classes. 

I can't get that old rock & roll song out of my head: "He took a hundred pounds of clay...."

Get your hands dirty, have real fun, learn something new, and you end up with useful items and gifts to boot. Call Julie Scales at Little House to sign up: (650) 326-2025 ext. 229.  

Or just come by to chat with Margie if you're on the fence. 

"Jilly's Garden" - Dedicated to a Lady

Peninsula Volunteers has been honored to have Jill Jerrehian as our President, not once, but twice. Her dedication to all our programs is evident in everything she does. Jill is here almost every day working tirelessly behind the scenes.

So it's fitting that her family organized an event with the Peninsula Volunteers to honor her.

Yesterday we did the impossible: We surprised Jill with the dedication of our new Little House patio in her name: "Jilly's Garden". Was she ever surprised! Take a look at the expression on her face.

Jill is about to say "Oh my!" 

Peninsula Volunteers Board, Past Presidents and Community Advisers were there to help celebrate.

Daughter, Laura O'Donohue, and Jill.

Who's that under those Foster Grants?

Jill loves the new patio and invites all to share in the pleasures of sitting under an umbrella amidst the flowers and watching the children or the squirrels in the park.

The Jerrehian Family

Martha Castillo Clayprints in Little House Galleries

From July 18^th through the end of August, Peninsula Volunteers Little House Galleries will be pleased to be showing the clay prints of Martha Castillo. Come visit and view these unique works of art.

Martha Castillo’s life reflects many facets of the arts. Starting with classical ballet as a young girl, she later discovered a passion for theatre, along with ceramics, collage, and the visual arts. She holds a BFA in theatre arts, and a Master's degree in Art Therapy.

In the mid 70’s, Martha embarked on an exploration of ceramics as a sculpture medium, and continued her studies in England where she lived for seven years. In 1993, Martha returned to California. She focused for a time on collage and mixed media, and continued her studies of various other art techniques. During an investigation into fine art printmaking, she was introduced to Mitch Lyons* and his innovative new technique, clay monoprint, or “clayprinting”. Now working almost exclusively in this medium, she sets some time aside for teaching.

In addition to gallery representation, Martha shows in alternative spaces, including her own studio. Martha’s paintings have been compared to Richard Diebenkorn, and Hans Hoffman, among others.

For a visual demonstration of how she creates her prints, go to Martha’s website: http://www.marthacastillo.net/workshop-demo/

Patch Story about Little House Wood Shop Instructor

Our own Richard Springer is a star! Not only is he a great teacher and master craftsman, but now he's getting some local press. If you've ever longed to know how satisfying working with your hands can be, now's the time to sign up for a class with him. Call Little House today.

Patch.com Feature About Rich Springer

We'll Always Have Paris - Photography Show

Little House Galleries is pleased to host a colorful photography show, "We'll Always Have Paris" by F. Wainwright.


If you've always hungered to have tea with Gertrude Stein, drinks with Hemingway and Fitzgerald, have your portrait painted by Matisse, sip an absinthe while Eric Satie tickles the ivories for you, dance to Django Reinhardt's "gypsy jazz" - well, then this show may spark some more daydreaming!

No, we can't pay for your plane fare. So do come and visit the show and dream of walks along the quais of the Seine.....

New Director of Development at Peninsula Volunteers

Pennie L. Lundberg has recently been named as the Director of Development for Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. in Menlo Park, Ca. 

Pennie is a 10-year veteran of the nonprofit sector, having served as a fundraising executive with Community Gatepath in Burlingame, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and The ALS Association Golden West Chapter.  Prior to that Pennie held various sales and management positions with six college and professional sports teams.

Pennie’s primary responsibility will be offering support, structure and implementation of fundraising initiatives to the PVI organization.

 “I couldn’t be more delighted to be associated with such a distinguished organization – the Peninsula Volunteers members, Staff and Clientele.  I can’t wait to get started!”

To reach Pennie, email: plundberg@peninsulavolunteers.org or call: (650) 326-0665, ext. 231.

Rosener House Unaffected by State Budget Cuts

Rosener House Continues at Full Strength 

Peninsula Volunteers Reassures Community Over State Cuts

July 6, 2011 [Menlo Park, CA]  Peninsula Volunteers, Inc., today assured the Mid-Peninsula community  that its Rosener House services to aging residents and their caregivers are totally unaffected by the State of California’s plan to eliminate the Medi-Cal coverage of Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) services. 

Peninsula Volunteers, which sponsors Little House, the Roslyn G. Morris Activity Center, Meals on Wheels, and Rosener House Adult Day Services, is a private non-profit organization, and is not a Medi-Cal provider.  On July 1, the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the planned elimination of federal participation for Medicaid covered services to ADHC, licensed in California by the Dept. of Health Care Services, to be effective Sept. 1, 2011. 

“Since the CMS announcement, we have received many calls expressing concern over the continuation of the Rosener House program. We want to assure the community that our 64-year-old mission to provide quality services and care for aging residents of the area is unaffected and, if anything, may grow in light of the state budget cuts to the point of our needing to establish a waiting list.  Peninsula Volunteers Rosener House Adult Day Services is licensed by the California Dept. of Social Services and is excluded from this decision,” said Bart Charlow, Executive Director of Peninsula Volunteers.

Rosener House has provided services to older adults in need of a structured, therapeutic activity program in a secure, state of the art center in residential Menlo Park for over 30 years.  A staff of 16, ranging from Registered Nurse to many Activity Leaders serves 45-50 participants each week day, who are transported by family caregivers or paratransit and pay on a sliding scale according to income.  Participants are involved in a wide variety of activities to suit their needs and capabilities including music, art, exercise, reminiscing groups, and current events.  Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy are available. Also available are a specialized Dementia Services Program designed to support and maintain capabilities, and an Early Memory Loss Wellness program for independent adults concerned with memory loss.

For more information about Rosener House, see www.peninsulavolunteers.org/rosener house, or call 650-322-0126.