Volunteering Leads to More Community Action
After volunteering at Cradles to Crayons twice with Greater Philadelphia Senior Executives Group, Dara Trout of Seniors Helping Seniors decided it was time to take even more action.
Dara recalls, "Each volunteer session was about 4 hours on a Saturday. During that time we sorted books into age appropriate bins, made up packs of age and size appropriate clothing and shoes, cleaned and sorted toys and games, and finally 'shopped' from among all the packs to create specific care packages of needed items for individual children. Each time we volunteered, we noticed that something was in short supply. The first time it was children's underwear, the second time certain shoe sizes."
After seeing the need, Dara decided to organize a community drive to collect items for C2C. She reached out to our SHS employees, our neighbors, and friends. Even our postal carrier contributed!
The drive raised 12 boxes of clothing, toys, and books! Some folks cleaned out those near-new items their children had outgrown while others actually purchased brand new items.
All in all, it was a very successful community drive. A big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed!
About Cradles to Crayons of Philadelphia
"Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth through age 12 living in homeless or low-income situations with the essential items they need to thrive - at home, at school and at play. We supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need." -- from Cradles to Crayons website.
On their website you can find:
- a list of most needed items
- how and when you can volunteer at their warehouse in Conshohocken
- how to volunteer individually, as a group, or as a company
About Seniors Helping Seniors
Seniors Helping Seniors matches senior citizens who need care with other seniors who want to provide care. This careful matching of care receiver with care provider often leads to life-long friendships. We can help a little or a lot.
We also take pride in contributing to the community we serve. In addition to this Cradles to Crayons drive, we speak on aging topics including dementia, home safety, and care giving to local community organizations.