Commun ty Matters Fulton Presbyterian Manor
Spring is for the birds
The activities department has been busy since mid-winter preparing for the the return of spring and all those lovely little birds. Activity Assistant Beth Boyd worked with several residents on making birdhouses, some woven from reeds and rattan to make them naturally weather-proof.
“We saw a picture of these wonderful teardrop-shaped birdhouses and thought they would be fun and easy to make. Boy were we wrong, Well halfwrong anyway. They are fun to make, but not easy. We broke several pieces trying to put it together. Once you get past all that, it is kind of easy weaving the rattan strips round-and-round,” Beth said.
When all the houses are finished we'll hang them outside in the trees to offer those birds returning for spring a place to stay.
Helen Epple, right, shows off some of the birdhouses that were made including the bright yellow one she painted. Activity Assistant Beth Boyd works on a woven birdhouse.
Presbyterian Manors rooted in Generosity
March 2015
We often recall the story of Alice Kalb, who at 90 traveled to a 1947 Presbyterian Synod of Kansas meeting to ask for a retirement community in Kansas. According to Edwin Shafer, senior vice president of development, what Mrs. Kalb basically told the Synod was: “If I give you all the money I have, will you build a home for the aging?” Her heart-felt offer symbolized the plight of a growing number of seniors needing the church’s help. Kalb’s initiative led a farmer from Wakarusa, Kan., to bequeath his farm to the new project. The sale of that land upon his death provided the funds for the first building of Newton Presbyterian Manor. Today, philanthropy at PMMA is evidenced through community partnerships, capital campaigns, Good — JOHN BUNYAN Samaritan Program giving, special projects campaigns, and planned giving. Many of PMMA’s 18 communities were opened with the help of local fundraising campaigns. There were donations of land for the Clay Center, Fort Scott, Olathe and Topeka locations. In addition, coalitions of citizens, churches and business leaders raised money for buildings in the Dodge City, Emporia, Parsons and Rolla. Through the years, capital campaigns have enabled PMMA communities to continue expanding services and remodeling campuses. Over the past eight years, Shafer said, there have been four capital campaigns.
“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
Good Samaritan Program
PMMA’s Good Samaritan Benevolent Care Program provides close to $4 million a year to touch the lives of nearly 400 residents, Shafer said. Mailings
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