Elder Care needs funds for Cool Room Project

Kim Archer, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
Updated ·2 min read
John Scott, with Elder Care, prepares to deliver and set up an air conditioner for a senior in need last summer.
John Scott, with Elder Care, prepares to deliver and set up an air conditioner for a senior in need last summer.

As the summer heat starts to settle in, Elder Care is in urgent need of donations to refill its depleted air conditioner inventory to loan to seniors in need, said Angie Thompson, Elder Care director of development.

"We need help," she said. "We are actively seeking funding from individuals, organizations, groups, corporations and foundations."

Thompson said the organization's 2019 decision not to take air conditioners back left inventory low.

"Our goal this year is to purchase 15 additional air conditioners to loan out over the summer. With each unit costing about $260, we need to raise around $4,000 to reach (it)," Thompson said.

The air conditioners can save lives when temperatures inevitably rise into the 90s and higher.

"Last year, when an air conditioner went to a client's home in the middle of the summer, Elder Care delivered and installed a window unit so she and her pets could remain in her home," Thompson said. "She could not afford the repairs then and would have had to place her pets in someone else's care. Fortunately, we were there for her when she needed help."

Elder Care’s Cool Room Project aims to provide a 110-BTU window unit for one room in the homes of qualifying seniors in the community who need extra help. This gives them at least one cool room to get relief from the oppressive heat and remain healthy during the summer.

Heat is particularly dangerous for aging adults. The body's natural defenses against heat can break down with age, putting seniors at risk for heat stroke, heat exhaustion and other severe disorders.

Air conditioners await delivery by Elder Care volunteers to seniors in need of relief during the summer heat.
Air conditioners await delivery by Elder Care volunteers to seniors in need of relief during the summer heat.

"In 2021, out of an abundance of caution during the COVID pandemic, we donated 30 air-conditioning units to qualifying seniors but did not require they be returned to Elder Care," she said. "This diminished our inventory."

Last year, Elder Care purchased air-conditioning units as requested to better control the units going out and to provide more oversight when they are returned to inventory for 2023, she said.

"We plan to follow the same practice (this year)," Thompson said. "Air-conditioning units will be returned to Elder Care in September 2023."

To find out more about the Cool Room Project or to donate, call Elder Care at 918-336-8500 or visit www.abouteldercare.org.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Elder Care needs funds for Cool Room Project