Lookout Point Erin Elliott Bryan

Gwinn community adopts seniors during holidays

by Erin Elliott Bryan

When Rynee Dombrowski received her copy of the Gwinn Quarterly in the Fall of 2019, a brief notice on Page 6 caught her eye.

That fall, it published an article about the Forsyth Senior Center’s Adopt-a-Senior program, which asks community members to adopt local seniors in need and help them have “a joyful holiday season.”

Dombrowski was immediately intrigued by the program.

“I’m in a position to help others. I don’t have a lot of money, but I can help,” she said. “And I know what it’s like to be lonely. I want other people to know that someone is thinking about them.”

This program has been running for more than a decade and it continues to grow each year, according to Michelle Borrett, the center’s social worker. She said the holiday season can be tough on those who live alone or face increasing difficulties as they age, particularly if they are on a fixed income.

“A lot of them have gone through physical losses during the year and deaths, of course. They’ve lost family members or friends. And as they’re aging, they’re losing more and more,” Borrett said. “It’s just kind of a nice little ‘we love you’ kind of thing and ‘we’re thinking about you.’”

Forsyth Senior Center Director Brian Veale said the center works with more than 380 documented clients each year, plus those who visit the center’s clubhouse each month for programs. The center serves clients in seven townships—Forsyth, West Branch, Sands, Skandia, Turin, Wells and Ewing—which covers a fairly large geographic area.

Veale is the center’s only full-time employee. His only other staff members, Borrett and outreach worker Avis Meyers-Ketola, are part-time employees.

Borrett and Meyers-Ketola run the Adopt-a-Senior program, which provided gifts to 50 seniors last year.

“When we first started, it was completely anonymous. We made the list, we contacted the volunteers, we did everything,” Borrett said. “Well, now that it’s grown so much, people get wind of it. Sometimes, [seniors] will call personally and ask to get put on the list for their own self, or we get family members, even agencies will call and say we have a senior that needs a little Christmas pick-me-up. We get referrals from pretty much anywhere now.”

Often, the center’s staff of parttime homemakers and chore workers also identify seniors who would most benefit from the program and help determine their greatest needs.

Seniors are then matched with a community volunteer, who receives a curated list of suggested items as well as some personal information, such as hobbies and interests. It’s not required for volunteers to purchase everything on the list, but some do.

Among the gifts that are purchased include winter coats, socks, bedding, paper products, canned goods or calendars, gift cards for gas, groceries and pharmacy items, and even money for winter heating assistance. Most volunteers add a little something extra depending on the suggestions offered by Borrett and Meyers-Ketola.

But the program is double blind— the volunteer doesn’t know the identity of the person they are shopping for and the senior doesn’t know the identity of the person who shopped for them.

“It’s really kind of neat if you think about it,” Veale said. “It’s the personal touch, just someone caring about you.”

That was precisely the appeal for volunteer Dombrowski.

“This is something I can do to make people feel better, especially during our long winters up here,” she said. “I think of the person and how they’re going to feel, and what would I feel if someone were doing that for me.”

Dombrowski admitted she generally doesn’t like to shop, but “Christmas is a different story,” adding that she’s not in the mood to shop until it snows. She usually waits until after Thanksgiving.

Dombrowski is one of the volunteers who likes to add a few extra items to the provided list. Whether it’s her homemade banana bread, holiday kitchen towels or decor to cheer up their home, or their favorite candies, she works to make it special for each senior she adopts.

She also takes care to wrap each item, preferring that to simply putting items into gift bags.

“I like to unwrap things, and I assume others do, too,” she said. Dombrowski has also donated wrapping paper and trimmings to help the center staff wrap gifts purchased by others.

The program has been inspiring and uplifting for herself and her grown daughter Emily, who lives in Grand Rapids. Emily has even chosen to adopt a family in her area, and mother and daughter sometimes shop together.

“I can make somebody else’s life easier; it’s not hard to do. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, and you don’t have to buy everything on the list,” she said. “It’s an awesome time of year, a time to brighten up someone

Presents for senior citizens are donated by members of the Gwinn community each holiday season.

(Photos courtesy of the Forsyth Senior Center)

else’s life. Everybody’s got problems; I just try to be nice.”

Borrett echoed Dombrowski’s sentiment.

“There’s a lot of negative news, but this is something positive,” Borrett said. “We hope this program keeps growing and that we run out of seniors, and we hope people keep being generous.”

For information on the Forsyth Senior Center’s Adopt-a-Senior Program, or to volunteer or make a donation, call (906)346-9862 or stop by the clubhouse at 165 North Maple Street in Gwinn.

More ways to support seniors this holiday season

The Ishpeming Salvation Army provides gift baskets to shut-in seniors with little to no local support each holiday season. Most are referred by other local senior organizations.

The Salvation Army provides a food basket and the Bell Auxiliary generously donates a variety of gift cards. Deliveries are made by the Ishpeming Noon Kiwanis.

“The need seems pretty big this year,” said Cari Detmers, development director of the Marquette County Salvation Army.

To make a donation or to refer a local senior, call Liz Nevala at (906)486-8121.

The Negaunee Senior Center also delivers gift baskets to those in need; donors give household items, handmade items, grocery gift cards and other items, and volunteers, including the local Girl Scouts troop, wrap the gifts. The program also is anonymous, and the social work staff and student workers from Negaunee High School deliver the gifts. To donate, call the Negaunee Senior Center at (906)4756266.

Individuals can also make donations to Community Action for their Meals on Wheels program to help provide free meals to seniors in need this holiday season. Not all recipients of Meals on Wheels can afford to donate to offset the cost of the meals, so donations are needed and welcome. The suggested per meal donation is $3.50 for each Congregate or Home Delivered Meal, but no one is ever denied service due to their inability to donate.

Since federal and state funding does not cover the full cost to operate the Senior Meal Programs, the generosity of program participants and their families is crucial. Community Action Alger-Marquette Senior Meals

Programs serve close to 100,000 meals a year to seniors in Alger and Marquette counties, helping those seniors live longer, healthier lives. To donate, call Lori at (906)228-6522, ext. 301.

MM

About the Author: Erin Elliott Bryan grew up in Ishpeming, and was the MM calendar editor from 2001 to 2005. She is now a freelance writer in the Minneapolis area.