2012 Annual Picnic Recap

What a G-R-E-A-T day!  It has been a dry summer, so we decided not to let a little rain worry us on the day of our annual picnic. On August 9th we hosted our annual picnic at SS Peter & Paul Parish. Originally we planned on having the event under tents in the grassy area between the church and the school. Over the weekend the forecast was a 50% chance of rain...a little worrisome...but that number crept up about 10% per day until on the day before our picnic we saw that there was a 90% chance of rain!

So, we decided to host the event inside the gymnasium of the school. It worked out just perfectly. The picnic went from 11AM until 1PM. We had seniors showing up before 10:30 AM and at 10:45 AM I counted over 100 people already in the building.  At about 11:15 we made some announcements and at 11:25 we gave a short presentation about Seniors Helping Seniors In-Home Services.

After our presentation it was time to award some of our Providers with awards. Seniors Helping Seniors has the best caregivers around. Because all of our caregivers are loving, caring and compassionate seniors themselves, they understand the aging process and can relate to the seniors they are helping. Below is a list of some of the awards that were presented:

Dale Bozek	Patience
Maxine Brinks	Helping Hands
Richard Grisdale	Patience
Lynn Howe	Rookie of the year
Mary Hudson	Power of Love
Margie Jirous	11th hour award
Judy Robinson	a way to give and to receive
Debra Smith	Companion Award
Sharon Zils	All the way
Char Zuker	Square One
Phil Sikkema	Trooper Award
David Cz.	Yes
Kaye B.	Longevity Award
Sally A.	Golden Ages
Ric Castleman	Helping Hands
Faye White	Dedication Award
Ken Kole	PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
Marv Gortsema	Patience
Linda Blovits	Kiran Yocom Award

After we handed our awards, the son of one of our Receivers, Dirk A., asked if he could say a few words about Seniors Helping Seniors In Home services to everyone who was gathered for our picnic. We did reduce his "few words" to the clips below:

Dirk - Video Clip 1 - Why SHS?

Dirk - Video Clip 2 - People Who Care

Dirk - Video Clip 3 - Helping More than My Dad

Dirk - Video 4 - Thank You Seniors Helping Seniors

We really appreciate all of the kind words that Dirk shared with the audience. His family has been our pleasure to serve and his father has been wonderful to work with.

By this time the clock was reading high noon and the seniors in attendance were ready to eat! So, lunch was served followed by a little more music from the band. Along with all the other awards, we did present an award to Ken Kole for being our Caregiver of the Year!

You read about Ken in our last blog post and it was our pleasure to recognize him for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Check back soon as we will be updating this blog with pictures from our picnic.

Seniors Helping Seniors provides non-medical in home care for seniors by seniors. Our unique brand relies on matching up healthy, active seniors who want to help with seniors who need a little help to maintain their independence. We provide services throughout Grand Rapids, MI. There are over 200 locations around the country providing tens of thousands of hours of service to the senior community.

We chance people's lives.