LOA News and Notes

LOA News

& Notes

December 2024

Helping Older Persons Remain Independent for as Long as Possible.

Karis Christmas for Seniors

Reminder: Thank you to everyone who has purchased a gift for a senior in need as part of the Karis Care Services Christmas program! Please return your new, wrapped holiday gift to LOA no later than Friday, December 6, so our elves can deliver them in time for Christmas!

LOA's main office: 4932 Frontage Road NW, Roanoke, VA 24019. LOA's Center for Health & Wellness (located next door): 4902 Frontage Road NW, Roanoke, VA 24019.

VOLUNTEER ELVES NEEDED:

Help sort and tag gifts: Thursday, December 12, 9 AM – 11 AM, or 1 PM – 3 PM
Deliver gifts to seniors: Monday, December 16 – Friday, December 20, during regular business hours.

To volunteer, please contact Michele Daley at (540) 345-0451 ext 3027 or click the button below. Volunteers will be helping at LOA’s Center for Health & Wellness, 4902 Frontage Rd, Roanoke.

Volunteer to be an Elf

Make your gift to LOA and help us fill the plate of services, where it is needed most.

$1,000 enables LOA to help more seniors with Transportation to the doctor, pharmacy, or grocery store. Costs have risen drastically for this vital service. We provided more than 11,000 rides for more than 1,600 seniors in 2023.
$500 assists one senior with In-Home Care. 100 clients received Personal Care Services in 2023. The waiting list is nearly twice that number.
$250 delivers 30 Meals on Wheels, or 20 Diner's Club lunches. Volunteers delivered more than 114,000 meals last year. This year, Meals on Wheels is expected to have its first significant waiting list since before 2020.
$100 gives eligible seniors much needed Legal Assistance, such as creating Power of Attorney documents and Living Wills.
$50 provides 5 people with Emergency Services, including the provision of a cane or walker, Cooling Assistance, or LOA's Emergency Food Pantry.

Donate Now

Giving Tuesday coming December 3

Join LOA on our social media for a day of online giving, #GivingTuesday, December 3.

Help us fill the plate of services on #GivingTuesday. Your donation will provide critical rides to the doctor, home delivered meals, falls prevention classes, socialization, and so much more!

Watch LOA's Facebook page for more to come on December 3!

Volunteer Spotlight: Five Days a Week!

Giving back is second nature to Cassie Shepherd, Trish Keesling, and David Rogers. For the past six years, they’ve been faithfully delivering Meals on Wheels five days a week to their neighbors at Clearview Manor.

When we put out a call for help at Clearview, Trish and Cassie stepped up and brought David along to join the team. Despite facing challenges (two of them use power chairs and one uses a walker), they rarely let anything stand in the way of their volunteer work.

Beyond delivering meals, this incredible trio has found purpose, connection, and a sense of community through their service.

Cassie, Trish, and David: thank you for your unwavering dedication to helping others!

(Pictured: Trish and Cassie with Vinton/SE Meals on Wheels site supervisor, Marye Brooks.)

Soup for Seniors canned food drive

LOA's annual canned food drive is coming soon! Join us by holding a canned food collection at your church, school, or business during January. Then deliver your collected food to one of our drop-off sites between January 29-February 5, or to our main collection site the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul on February 3-5.

Special collection will be held at Black Dog Salvage on January 25-26! Donate at least $10 worth of food at Black Dog on Jan. 25 or 26 and get 10% off your eligible purchase!

VOLUNTEERS needed! Click the button below for volunteer opportunities in late January and early February. If you have any questions, please contact Aimee Lawson at LOA at (540) 345-0451.

Thank you to our Silver Sponsor:

Salem Lions Club

Volunteer for Soup for Seniors

Thank you, Marye Brooks

For the past 14 years, Marye Brooks has been the steadfast supervisor for LOA’s Meals on Wheels site in Vinton. Hosted by Vinton Baptist Church, the site and Marye have been devoted to the seniors in that area: 70 seniors in the Vinton/SE area receive Meals on Wheels five days a week. Earlier this fall, Marye retired from her position, but she isn’t going far: While she will no longer be working as site supervisor, she will continue to volunteer to deliver Meals on Wheels. Marye, you’re a good egg, one of the best, and all of us at LOA are going to miss your incredible energy, humor, kindness, and hugs. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for seniors and for LOA!

Marye is also a poet and offers the following farewell:

“Thank You for Your Love”

I'm trading one life pattern for another

a change in action and thought

to make more space around me

and fill it with love...

creating and pursuing passions

things that have waited for my attention

long laying in the shadows till now.

I'm shining the light of me on them

reacquainting myself with simplicity

and soul feeding activities

cleaning out accumulated stuff

sentimentality in goods and things

that clutter space and mind.

This is my day to begin this adventure

of seeking wholeness and fullness of self

by exploring what I've been putting aside.

Thanks for your support and care

your acceptance and connection...

without you, I would be less me...

and you wouldn't live in my heart

as blessings for all my days.

Do you have a shower chair or rollator that you would like to send to a good home? LOA partners with the F.R.E.E. Foundation, who refurbishes gently used durable medical equipment that is then donated to seniors in need. Donations of walkers, bath benches, etc. may be dropped off at:

Goodwill Donation Center, 1489 East Main Street, Salem, VA 24153.

Let them know your donation is for the F.R.E.E. Foundation for LOA!