Sometimes helping people means helping their pets. Once a month, Mary Lou Sedlock, Joyce Truscott, and Cheryl Navoy gather for a couple of hours at Milestone Senior Services’ Kalamazoo office to re-package pet food for seniors. They enjoy the camaraderie of getting together and they know they are volunteering for a good cause.
Milestone’s Pet Support for Seniors program provides pet food and supplies for their Home Delivered Meals (Meals on Wheels) clients. For the same reasons that some older adults are not able to provide adequate food for themselves, they also have difficulty providing for their pets. When Milestone realized that many of their Meals on Wheels clients were sharing their meals with their pets, they established the Pet Support for Seniors program.
Pet food used in Milestone’s Pet Support for Seniors program is purchased or donated in large quantities because that’s more economical, however, most seniors can’t handle a 50 pound bag of pet food (and neither can the Meals on Wheels delivery volunteers). Milestone’s Pet Support volunteers work on re-packaging the food into smaller, more manageable six pound zip-lock bags.
The three women look forward to their volunteer day each month – they can chat and catch up with each other while they work and they know they are supporting an important mission. Joyce said, “We enjoy visiting with each other, and it gets us out of the house. But really, it’s about giving back to the community and knowing we are helping people.”
Pets are a valued family member in many households, but for older adults they can fill an even bigger role. Many older adults who live alone or have limited access to their community, live in isolated situations where a furry friend can be vitally important to their wellbeing – mentally, physically, and emotionally. Pets are a constant loving companion for seniors, often reducing loneliness and depression.
Joyce is celebrating her twenty-fifth year of volunteering with Milestone; she started with bulk mailings years ago and has done several volunteer tasks over the years. Jane knew Mary Lou and brought her on board volunteering at Milestone 15 years ago. Cheryl is the “newbie” in the group, having joined them just two years ago. Generally, one of them works on weighing and re-packaging dog food, another does cat food, and the third creates labels for both.
Milestone currently utilizes 30 volunteers in their Pet Support program, most of whom gather in small groups of just a few at a time. Pet Support Volunteers can come in as frequently as they care to – all help is welcomed and appreciated.
Cheryl, Joyce , and Mary Lou are all part of the AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP program. Milestone Senior Services facilitates the RSVP program throughout Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties through an AmeriCorps Seniors grant to place volunteers who are age 55 and older with various non-profits throughout the region. Many of the RSVP volunteers are placed at Milestone, and others find their ideal fit at one of our other 30 non-profit partners throughout the community. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Milestone’s volunteer department at 269-532-2255 or visit our volunteer page.
