Many members of the local community were grateful to have campus and community members volunteer to help them around the house on Saturday, April 26. Approximately 30 people came out to help 22-23 households during “Help Your Seniors Day.” The event was sponsored by the Student Senate at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, the Aroostook Area Agency on Aging along with UMPI administration members President Don Zillman and Dean of Students Christine Corsello.
The basic idea behind “Help Your Senior Day” was to help local seniors with tasks they may not be able to accomplish themselves, such as clean windows, do lawn work, or organize and re-arrange rooms. Wal-Mart donated a $100 gift card so the Student Senate could purchase cleaning supplies including, paper towels, Windex and trash bags.
Zillman and Corsello came up with the idea of helping local seniors.
“We worked with Steve Farnham and the Aroostook Area on Aging,” said Corsello. “Mr. Farnham, through his agency and work, collected the names of the seniors who wished to have projects completed at their homes.”
Steve Callioras, the director of Student Senate’s External Affairs committee, and Megan Fowler, a member of the committee, organized the event. People who volunteered ranged from members of Student Senate to brothers of Kappa Delta Phi fraternity to other students and faculty. Even Zillman and Corsello did some volunteer work.
Sign-in started at 8:30 a.m. and teams of 2-4 formed and houses were designated to each team. T-Shirts were given out to everyone that participated in the event. Teams then grabbed cleaning supplies and headed off to there designated houses ready and willing to do what was asked of them. Participants provided their own transportation, so most teams car-pooled.
According to Corsello the groups went to homes in Presque Isle, Caribou, Washburn and Easton.
“I sure appreciate this,” said Marcelyn Carter of Presque Isle as one team cleaned her windows. “I am 75 years old and this is the first time anyone has offered anything like this. My husband, Wendell Carter, has Alzheimer’s, so it’s hard for me to do things around the house.” As Carter began to shed tears of joy she said, “Thank you guys very, very much.”
At another house, Kenneth Oliver III, an alumnus of Kappa Delta Phi fraternity, was just getting done taking a few storm windows off a home. Oliver smiled and said, “We helped some people out and learned a few things along the way.”
At around 1:30 p.m., people finished up their tasks and gathered at Zillman’s house on the UMPI campus for a BBQ lunch provided by Aramark in celebration of a job well done. Many people discussed their experiences and how they felt everything went.
“The day went great for our first attempt,” said Callioras, “the amount of people that helped out was amazing. We had a few kinks, such as people not home or available, but we worked through it.”
Fowler suggested that this event should be done yearly.
“You feel so good,” said Margaret Smith, a student attending UMPI. “It feels great being a part of the community.”
Benjamin Marquis, a brother of Kappa Delta Phi fraternity, shared his experience as well. “All the folks that we helped were really thankful that someone else in the community cared about them. We truly made a difference and this is something I hope the University keeps as a tradition. Kappa Delta Phi will always be there to lend a helping hand.”
At the BBQ, Zillman gave a short thank you speech. He was proud of everyone who volunteered there time to help out the elderly. He also said that this was a terrific start to what he hopes will be a big annual event.
Since Saturday’s event, participants have returned to some of the households to finish up tasks around the homes. Callioras hopes this will become both a spring and fall activity for the campus community, since many tasks need to be done seasonally.
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