Senior Companion Program
Delivering Comfort—One Mug at a Time! By Deb Seng , Director of Caregiving and Community Initiatives
For the fourth year, PCOA’s Senior Companion Program successfully sponsored the Hug in a Mug project. In collaboration with the Neighbors Care Alliance (learn more on page 33), and with the generous support of citizens, community partners, and local agencies, the Senior Companion Volunteers cleaned, sorted, and decoratively filled 534 mugs for older adults in Pima County! Senior Companions, part of a national volunteer initiative, creates meaningful connections with isolated older adults, and offers a Hug in a Mug to people who otherwise receive little friendship, or affection. This year, the mug-hugs will be distributed by community-based Neighbors Care Programs who serve hundreds of lonely older people every month. Each Hug in a Mug is filled with kindness and compassion, and lets people know that they matter. We are grateful to everyone who generously contributed to this project which Senior Companions sponsored in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream of inclusion and acceptance for all. And we extend special thanks to St. Francis in the Foothills UMC, Tucson Family Volunteers, Ellie Abraham at Corona Cares Neighbors Care Program, and Starbucks—all of whom inspired us with their generosity.
If you would like to serve your community and be a lifeline to homebound older adults, please call (520) 305-3453 to learn more about becoming a Senior Companion Volunteer!
March/April 2024, Never Too Late | Page 23
Pima Council on Aging
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