40 Birthdays: Celebrating 40 Years of Helping Seniors Live At Home
40 Birthdays: Celebrating 40 Years of Helping Seniors Live At Home
In 1977, over 20 agencies in Prince Edward County, Ontario collaborated in a pilot project to enhance services to the community’s older residents. This was the beginning of The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association, an organization that today has engaged the skills and enthusiasm of over 500 volunteers to deliver a wide range of services to older adults in the community. The agency will celebrate its 40th anniversary at a special event on Thursday, October 12, 2017 data-start=ing at 6 PM at the Picton arena.
October has been proclaimed “Community Support Services Month” by Mayor Robert Quaiff to recognize the organization’s four decades of service and the many contributions made by volunteers and seniors to the community.
“Volunteers are the cornerstone of our organization,” says Executive Director Debbie MacDonald Moynes. “ These are experienced people with many life skills who enjoy assisting others. And studies show that volunteering is a means of living a happy, meaningful life. “
Prince Edward County has the second highest proportion of seniors in Ontario – and the fifth highest in Canada. It’s a demographic that will increase in the next decade as “baby boomers” age and begin to need additional assistance to live independent lives in their homes.
The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association provides transportation services, social and fitness programs, foot care clinics, and delivers Meals On Wheels to seniors in the area. Through a partnership with Canada Post and The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the agency has developed a service called the Rural Route Reassurance Program that provides a sort of “neighbourhood watch” over seniors as part of their mail delivery. It also operates a Thrift Shop in Picton as a business supporting its fundraising efforts.
All of this is made possible by a small, dedicated staff and a strong network of enthusiastic volunteers.
For more information – or to obtain tickets to the 40th anniversary event – call or visit our offices at 74A King St. in Picton.
Telephone: 613-476-7493