The Sunshine Club is a unique volunteer program under the auspices of Chabad on the Avenue designed to bring cheer and companionship into the lives of local seniors.
Whether for seniors living on their own, in assisted living facilities or convalescent homes, the Sunshine Club matches up caring friends to be there with and for seniors on a bi-weekly basis – to visit, to assist and to uplift. To share experiences, to spend quality time, to celebrate special occasions and to create wonderful memories together.
It’s not just about visitation. It’s about friendship. It’s about community.
The Visits – A Gift of Mutual Benefit
Whether a senior has family and friends who visit with him or her on a consistent basis or is quite alone in the world, regular visits with a designated Sunshine Club volunteer opens an entire new world of social connection and interaction. A relationship of love and caring, devotion and tenderness, is fostered and built upon.
For the seniors, simply knowing that someone with a kind heart is there to lend a sensitive ear or hold their hand is reason enough for them to smile and feel uplifted – all week long. Activities and pastimes such as reading, studying, letter-writing, crafting or game-playing, or venturing out for neighborhood strolls, can serve as delightful bonuses to Sunshine Club visits.
For the volunteers, there is the boundless sense of satisfaction of performing a deed that is deemed of highest virtue in Judaism – showing due respect for the elderly, helping ensure that their golden years are as pleasant and rewarding as can be. The visits also allow for volunteers to be mentored – to learn the valuable lessons of life’s journeys from those who have traveled its many miles.
Together, seniors and volunteers develop a newfound appreciation for the joys and blessings of life. By sharing personal experiences and accomplishments, they inform and enrich each other’s lives. A mutual gift indeed.
Volunteer
The beauty of being a Sunshine Club volunteer is that with just a minimal investment of time and attention, you can dramatically change the life of another human being. You can part the curtains of loneliness and allow the sun to shine in. You can ensure that Bubbies and Zadies who gave so much of themselves in their earlier years get to enjoy their senior years with the dignity, respect and gratitude they deserve. A society that reveres its elderly is a society that knows its own soul.
Volunteers must be fifteen years of age or older. Married couples can pair up for visits and may bring their children along as circumstances allow. After signing on, volunteers attend an initial training and orientation session, with quarterly follow-up and update sessions held throughout the year. A volunteer handbook, program schedule and booklet of suggested activities are given to each volunteer. A program coordinator meets individually with each volunteer so as to assign a best suited senior friend, and continues to monitor compatibility and progress of visits thereafter.
For further information or to sign up as a Sunshine Club volunteer, please call (416) 546-8770.
Sunshine
Senior Registration
If you or someone you know can benefit from the joys and friendships of the Sunshine Club, what are you waiting for? Enroll in the program today. Great care is taken to match up each senior with just the right volunteer for maximum compatibility and synchronicity.
Remember, the Sunshine Club is all about friendship and mutual enrichment.
For further information or to enroll, please call (416) 546-8770.
Motivated by a profound love for every Jew and spurred by a boundless optimism, Chabad sets into motion a dazzling array of programs and services to serve Jews from all walks of life.
