Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s
AGING NEWS
For the week of May 13th
Note: the Office for the Aging and its Senior Friendship Centers will be closed for the national Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 27th.
Golden Living . . . News for Seniors, Their Families and Caregivers
Todd N. Tancredi, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
VOLUNTEERS OF ALL AGES AND SKILLS WANTED
Whether you’re a recent retiree looking for worthy uses of your free time, or a student looking for summertime community-service work, the Office for the Aging has plenty of volunteering opportunities for you. Many OFA programs operate with essential help from volunteers. Here are just a few examples of how you can help:
Can you teach a senior exercise class in Beekman or Rhinebeck? Can you deliver meals to homebound seniors in Clinton Corners? Can you help serve our seniors at any of the 12 OFA senior picnics taking place this summer throughout the county? We’d love to hear from you.
If clerical work is your strength, we have opportunities in that area as well. We’re a few weeks away from delivering our summer “Spotlight on Seniors” newsletter, and we’ll need help preparing the newsletters for mailing.
You could also become a volunteer OFA Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP) counselor. We provide the training, so that you can help explain the coverage, costs and options of Medicare, managed care, Medigap insurance and long term care insurance.
For information on our volunteering opportunities, contact OFA Outreach Coordinator Brian Jones atbjones@dutchessny.gov or (845) 486-2544.
MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SENIOR VOLUNTEERS
Friends of Seniors (485-1277, www.friendsofseniors.biz) volunteers provide non-emergency medical transportation, visiting, reassurance and other services for seniors in much of Dutchess County, and is searching for volunteer drivers. Hours are flexible and determined by each volunteer, and mileage reimbursement and insurance are provided.
The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Dutchess County recruits and places individuals 55 and older with volunteer opportunities. They provide vital assistance to OFA’s Home Delivered Meals program and at several OFA Senior Friendship Centers. RSVP also assists with transportation for the elderly; helping seniors with income tax filing; helping in area hospitals, assisted living facilities and nursing homes; assisting in local museums and historic sites; and much more. To find out more, visit www.dutchesscap.org, call (845) 452-5104 extension 101, or emailrsvp@dutchesscap.org.
RSVP’s annual volunteer recognition breakfast takes place on Thursday, May 23rd at 9:00 a.m. at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel. RSVP volunteers attend for free. If you’d like to attend as a guest, the cost is $15. Contact RSVP for further information.
If you need one last push to join the ranks of volunteers, consider that you’re likely to get more out of volunteering than you give. Several studies indicate that volunteering helps people who donate their time feel more socially connected, thus warding off isolation and loneliness. What surprises us is that volunteering also leads to better physical health. According to a 2015 Carnegie Mellon University study, adults over age 50 who volunteered on a regular basis were less likely to develop high blood pressure than non-volunteers.
While it’s true that those who volunteer may be more likely to exercise, which can also lower blood pressure, those who have volunteered at an OFA Senior Picnic will tell you at the end of the day that they’ve gotten quite a workout at the picnic.
Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, 114 Delafield St., Poughkeepsie, New York 12601, telephone (845) 486-2555, email: ofa@dutchessny.gov website: www.dutchessny.gov/aging
Office for the Aging events schedule
See the online calendar at www.dutchessny.gov to find out more
(All events subject to change)
Mon 5/20, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. – The Celebration of Aging
Villa Borghese, 70 Widmer Rd., Wappingers Falls
Admission information at this link: https://www.dutchessny.gov/Departments/Aging/Docs/Celebration-of-Aging-Reservation.pdf
Admission to the luncheon is $25 per person if paid before Friday, May 10th; after then, it’s $40 per person.
Every Dutchess resident turning 100 or more in 2019 gets in free, along with any Dutchess couples married 70 years or more in 2019. Let us know they’re coming by calling (845) 486-2544 or emailing bjones@dutchessny.gov.
Fri 6/14, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – OFA at World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2019
Drumlin Hall, Dutchess Community College
Free, with required advance registration
Space is limited to 450 attendees – fewer than 80 seats left!
Call (845) 486-2555 to reserve a seat
To request an Office for the Aging presentation for your senior, social and/or civic group, get in touch with outreach coordinator Brian Jones at (845) 486-2555 or bjones@dutchessny.gov. All your group needs to provide is a venue that’s wheelchair-accessible and open to the public, with space to set up a projector and screen. We have our own projector and screen – but if you have those, let us know.
We feature presentations on Successful Aging, Office for the Aging services, Medicare/Medicaid, scam prevention, senior housing, a wide range of topics related to nutrition, and more!
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER SCAM
This one appears to be a fundraising or charity scam, and was reported to us by the office of Dutchess County Clerk Brad Kendall – a resident reported receiving a letter from an organization calling itself “Seniors Advocate” and seeking money supposedly to lobby for senior-friendly legislation in Washington.
The first thing you should do when receiving any fundraising request, before sending any money is…do your homework and research the organization. In this case, details about the organization are hard to come by, which is a major red flag. A legitimate fundraising organization operates under several state and federal laws on financial disclosure, and their statements will be publicly available. The New York state attorney general’s office operates www.charitiesnys.com, which maintains a database of charities registered to operate in New York.
Getting off the mailing lists of shady fundraising organizations is far easier said than done. Scammers buy and sell “suckers lists” – the names, addresses and personal information of people who have been tricked into giving up money and may be likely to do so again. But you may be able to at least reduce the flow of junk mail. The Data and Marketing Association’s DMACHoice site (https://dmachoice.thedma.org) allows users to remove their names from many mailing lists, and handles ethics complaints about association members.
As always, scams can be reported to the state attorney general’s office and/or the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov).
If you have more questions, email bjones@dutchessny.gov.
26TH ANNUAL NATIONAL SENIOR HEALTH AND FITNESS DAY (Wed 5/29)
This informative event is hosted by St. Simeon Properties, 24 Beechwood Ave. in Poughkeepsie. It’s an exciting day of educational programs focusing on health and wellness, a free delicious lunch, a presentation (), and door prizes! Call for more information and registration: 845-471-0171
Other aging news online:
Congress has approved over-the-counter sales of hearing aids: https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2019/otc-hearing-aids.html
This week in senior birthdays:
5/13: Singer/songwriter/pianist/drummer/producer Stevie Wonder (69)
5/14: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tony Pérez (77)
5/15: Painter/sculptor Jasper Johns (89)
5/16: Actor/producer Pierce Brosnan (66)
5/17: Drummer/songwriter Bill Bruford (70)
5/18: Oldest living former New York baseball Giant Gil Coan (97)
5/19: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson (82)
And to wrap up the week, a “mom” version of the weekly Bad Joke:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A (from Mom): Why did you let the chicken out? Do you know how much I paid for that chicken? Don’t let that chicken back in the house with dirty feet!
