Make a difference every day
Eric Ehst, Executive Director
Every October there is a designated national holiday called “Make a Difference Day.” This is supposed to be one day a year when people are encouraged to volunteer their time to make a difference in someone’s life. Volunteers gather on this day to help their neighbors in a variety of ways. This is an admirable aim, but far too little to meet the needs of our community.
At Neighbors Who Care every day is Make a Difference Day. Every single day someone who is frail or homebound needs a ride to the doctor, or groceries, a hot meal, a friendly visit, a reassuring phone call, or any of the myriad services our friendly, caring volunteers provide. Last year we touched the lives of 634 community residents on over 17,000 occasions. Anne needs to get to dialysis twice a week. John requires chemotherapy. Sarah and Earl are unable to cook and need a hot meal delivered. Monica just can’t drive anymore and needs groceries. Gwen can’t climb a ladder and needs a lightbulb changed. Stephanie can’t see well anymore and needs to balance her check book. Grace has to go grocery shopping and needs someone to sit with George who has Alzheimer’s. With just a little help from our volunteers these folks can continue to live like they want, in their own homes, with pride and dignity.
This year the official Make a Difference Day is Saturday, October 22. On that day Neighbors Who Care is hosting our annual community fair to bring people together and celebrate the contributions our volunteers (and the donors who make our work possible) make to the community each and every day. We are inviting everyone in the community to come out for some fun. We’ll have food, music, games, a classic car show, prizes, the Cardinals’ Cheerleaders, ASU’s Sparky, fire trucks, vendor booths and lots of fun. Better yet, you can meet some of our caring volunteers and some of the wonderful clients they assist. This is the one day when you can hobnob with the heroes who make a difference the other 364 days of the year. Be sure to join us at the northeast corner of Riggs and Alma School Roads in Sun Lakes between 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 22.
If you can’t join us for the fair be sure to check us out at www.NeighborsWhoCare.com to get the full story on how our volunteers make a difference in the community. Who knows, you might be inspired to get involved; or you might find that you could use some of the many services we provide; or maybe you can make a small donation to help keep us operating. In any case, visit our website or call us at 480-895-7133. Make a difference!