RSVP: Golden Years And Volunteers

By Jan Howard

Forty-two members of RSVP in Newtown racked up 5,993 hours of service from 1998 to 1999, giving of their valuable time and expertise in a variety of volunteer positions.

RSVP (The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) is one of the largest volunteer efforts in the nation. Its members, all over the age of 55, are everywhere. They deliver meals to homebound people, tutor teenagers, renovate homes, teach English to immigrants, transport elderly and disabled people to their medical appointments, and help people recover from natural disasters.

They sew quilts, help out at the Senior Center and the Connecticut Visitors Center at Exit 2 of I-84, serve as mentors, and make blankets for the homeless. They provide bicycles for children who can’t afford them and work in Danbury Hospital’s gift shop, and in other volunteer positions too numerous to mention.

They serve at the State of Connecticut Tourist Center, DATAHR Rehabilitation Institute, Literacy Volunteers of America, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, Newtown FISH, Mr Fixit and more.

RSVP matches the personal interests and skills of its volunteers to help local community problems. It makes it easy for older adults to find the types of volunteer service opportunities that appeal to them.

The volunteers choose where and how often they would like to serve, from a few hours per week up to a full time 40-hour commitment.

Josephine and Michael Lucas, longtime residents of Newtown, are two of several RSVP members who volunteer their time as tourist information guides at the Tourist Center at Exit 2 of I-84.

“We volunteer for four hours once or twice a month all year long,” Mrs Lucas said. “We find it very enjoyable. ”

Mrs Lucas said they give out information about Connecticut, such as brochures, maps and vacation guides, and help motorists with directions.

Mr and Mrs Lucas have been volunteering as tourist information guides since 1990 when they heard about the volunteer opportunity at a Connecticut State Employees Association meeting. “They had a RSVP person come and talk about volunteering,” Mrs Lucas said.

“It’s a nice thing to do, and we meet a lot of nice people.” she said. “We used to do it three times a month, but other people are now doing it, too.”

Mrs Lucas said a coordinator from the Tourism District helped them when they began to volunteer by providing guidelines to follow and information about tourist sites in the state. “The Tourism District took us on trips to tourist spots.” The couple also received free tickets for tourist attractions and had tours of new hotels, where they were often treated to lunch.

Mr Lucas said 75 to 80 people stopped at the Tourist Center one recent morning. “This is not the busy season,” he said. “During the busy season we can have 75 to 100 people in an hour.

“We did a lot of traveling ourselves and have stopped in welcome centers. This is our way to repay the fun and gratification we got when we were traveling.”

Mrs Lucas has lived in Newtown all her life. Mr Lucas, who was born in Bridgeport, has lived here since 1945.

Louise Morgan, a lifelong resident of Newtown, has been typing in Braille for the blind since 1980. She uses a braillewriter, which is similar to a typewriter except it only has six keys for forming the letters. She is currently working on two books, one for the Lutheran Church in Missouri and another for children in Hartford.

“I try to work on it two hours or more a day,” Mrs Morgan said. She received her training through a two-year correspondence course offered by the Lutheran Church, which provided the braillewriter.

“My first desire was to learn to sign for the deaf,” she said, but her late husband became ill and she had to stop the lessons.

Later, she read an article about learning to write in Braille. “It’s good for me. It keeps me busy,” she said, noting the work takes great concentration. “It’s like playing a piano, really, or typing. You use your mind and fingers both. “

Mrs Morgan’s volunteer work doesn’t end here, however. An RSVP member for nine years, she became involved through an AARP meeting. Since then she volunteers her time at the Exit 2 welcome center and has logged about 1,100 hours at Danbury Hospital, where she volunteers in the gift shop once a week for three hours and as needed. She has been volunteering at the hospital for eight years.

She also volunteers for AARP in Bethel, compiling the monthly newsletter, running a bake sale to benefit a scholarship at Bethel High School, and organizing trips. She is considering volunteering some time at Ashlar of Newtown.

Of her volunteer activities, Mrs Morgan said, “You can be busy, but you can always do more.”

Peg Watson, a resident since 1945, drives for FISH (Friends In Service Here) twice a month. “I pick up people and take them to the doctor and back home.”

She said she drove for FISH when it was first started 30 years ago through Trinity Church and started doing it again over two years ago.

“Steve Tyler, who was president then, got up at church and said drivers were desperately needed,” she said.

People needing rides call RSVP, and RSVP divides the requests between the two drivers who are on call that day, she said. The number of hours she puts in depends on how many people need rides. “One day we had five people, three of whom had to go to the doctor at the same time.” In those cases, the appointments are split up between the two drivers and a substitute is called in to help out.

“Each individual call can take about two to three hours,” she said.

Joe Kelly, a resident of Newtown for seven years, helps provide bikes for kids who can’t afford them.

“We seek donations from residents, police departments, bike shops, and everywhere that has bikes that are useable,” he said.

A three-week workshop is then held for 9- to 15-year-old boys and girls, who are selected by schools and social service agencies through an application process.

The youngsters go to the workshop two times a week for three weeks and, with the help of adult volunteers, learn to do repairs and other necessary work on the bikes to make them useable.

“A bike mechanic takes the bike apart and then they work on different parts of the bikes,” Mr Kelly said. “We move along until the bikes are road ready.”

The program offers a bike safety talk by the Danbury Police Bike Patrol. The volunteers also try to obtain bicycle helmets for the youngsters. 

“We have a minimal budget,” Mr Kelly said, noting, however, “People are very generous with donations.”

Mr Kelly said he has been involved with the program for about a year and a half “And I keep getting deeper into it,” he said. “We have a great time with the kids, and we’re learning more about repairing bikes.”

Four workshops are offered a year. “We’d like to do more, but we need a constant supply of bikes coming in and places to store them,” he said.

The workshops take place evenings at South Street School in Danbury and are sponsored by Danbury Youth Services, a non-profit agency. There is no charge for the young people involved.

When he retired two years ago, Mr Kelly said he began to look around for volunteer opportunities. He learned about the bike donation program from the Volunteer Center in Danbury and through a story in a local newspaper.

“I went down and volunteered,” he said. “It struck me in the heart. I’ve been with it ever since.”

 Mr Kelly also volunteers at the Tourist Center two days a week. He also volunteers as a computer education instructor at the Danbury senior Center. The program, SeniorNet, is an eight-week introductory course for senior citizens.

“When they complete the course, they can use the mouse, write letters, make address lists and visit the Internet,” he said. Since the program started, 300 seniors have finished the course, and there is a waiting list of 300, he said.

“It progresses slowly so people learn by doing,” Mr Kelly said. He started out as a coach, but is now spending most of his time as an instructor.

He has also volunteered at the Senior Center in Sandy Hook, helping seniors to prepare their income taxes. “It’s very rewarding,” he said. “People are very grateful.”

When he retired, he said, “I wanted to turn from head work to head and hands work. The planning and public speaking I did in my job has been helpful in giving me confidence in volunteering to help people.”

 “They call it giving back, but there are also many rewards in doing it,” he observed.

 The Northern Fairfield County RSVP has over 500 members, who come from Newtown, Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, Redding and Ridgefield.

Part of the National Senior Service Corps, RSVP is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Western Connecticut Chapter of the American Red Cross and funded by a combination of grants from the federal and state governments as well as the United Way of Northern Fairfield County.

Recognition events are held each October at each of the senior centers. Newtown’s RSVP volunteers were recognized on October 27.

If you are 55 or over and have a desire to help and give back to the community, RSVP can find a place for you. For information, call 203/792-8200 and ask for Elaine Lundquist or Rhona Gordon.