A Good Age: How 'wonderful ambassadors' help keep Hingham senior center in gear
HINGHAM − Dozens of volunteers who make the Hingham senior center the friendly and life-sustaining place it is recently gathered to be thanked for their contributions over the past three years.
State Rep. Joan Meschino, of Hull, a guest, wanted to share "one funny pandemic story." Her comments got to the heart of why the volunteers do what they do, and the obstacles they overcome.
"You are all wonderful ambassadors out into the community," Meschino said. "That is the hardest thing − to bring people in, to make sure they feel welcome and know that there is a community here. And it is all of you who create that."
After the state's pandemic lockdown began in 2020, Meschino called Jennifer Young, director of the Hingham Senior Center, to offer a helping hand.
Young said that her staff was contacting the town's seniors to see how they were doing in a frightening time. There were many calls to make, and Young gave Meschino a list of people age 75 and older in Hingham "just to make sure they had what they needed."
Meschino and her staff began making calls − "Hi, just checking in with some of the town's seniors ... " and, she said, the reaction came back, "What? Joan Meschino thinks I'm old?"
Instead of raising age to the forefront, board members and volunteers offered to informally check on their neighbors.
Often the volunteers in area senior centers are in the background, quietly doing their work. Last Tuesday, however, they were in the spotlight in Hingham. Young and her staff pulled out all the stops to thank them for their contributions at the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, which she called "long overdue" due to COVID.
A Good Age: Hingham artist, 15, brings fifth grade pen pals to Norwell memory care
A Good Age: A special dad steps up to help his daughter teach kindergarten in Weymouth
Volunteers with Hingham Elder Services save peers "lots of money"
Steve Sayian retired as an engineering manager seven years ago and was stymied. It was time to enroll in a federal health insurance program, but much as he knew about engineering, he needed help understanding Medicare.
"It was complicated to figure out," he said.
For guidance, he turned to Norman Tetreault, a volunteer health insurance counselor at the Weymouth senior center.
"Norm helped me understand Medicare and, two years later, I enrolled in a course to also become a SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Everyone) counselor like Norm," Sayian said.
Sayian is now helping others at the Hingham center one Wednesday per month and at the Braintree senior center every other Wednesday. SHINE counselors know how to search Medicare and other websites to figure out which health insurance plan offers the best deal for each individual based on coverage levels, monthly premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
"For me, the biggest satisfaction is helping with prescription drug coverage," Sayian said. "I save them lots of money that way, because the plans and the coverage change every year."
That assistance is just one way volunteers are making life-changing differences at Hingham and other local senior centers.
"Our volunteers deserve all of the recognition they can get for everything they do for this community," Young said. "With each year, I hope that younger audiences will realize the impact that giving back has on our loved ones, friends and neighbors. Our seniors lead by example."
Volunteers fill key roles as shuttle drivers and receptionists. They help in the kitchen and serve meals. Some teach courses, run workshops, are graphic designers and newsletter editors. Others serve on boards and committees, plan programs, take photographs and provide entertainment. Those with green thumbs tend to the senior center garden.
Time spent volunteering saved the town $131,441 last year
In 2022, 62 men and women gave 3,613 hours of their time at the Hingham senior center. In Massachusetts, Young said, volunteer time is valued at $36.38 an hour, so that means they saved the town $131,441 in salaries − the equivalent of 2 full-time staff positions.
Liz Klein and Joe Fisher, members of the Hingham Select Board, mingled with the volunteers, whom Klein thanked for "keeping the senior center running every day ... you embody the essence of volunteerism with enthusiasm."
Young presented formal awards to 36 seniors, who have each been recognized for exceptional service during the past three years as a Volunteer of the Month. She also awarded the annual Earl Dare Mabel Lifetime Achievement honors to volunteers Peggy Hughes, Dawn Sibor and Warren Joseph Millburg, who won the award for work in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Millburg chairs the center's Discovery Life Long Learning Committee and also started a seasonal walking group. Pointing to first his head, and then his heart, Millburg said, "Volunteering doesn't come from here; it comes from here. Volunteering comes from the heart and all of you are supporting your community."
Hughes has been a volunteer for 14 years, coming back for her weekly shift after she moved out of Hingham. Sibor was on the board for eight years, was chair for three, and led the center through significant changes.
David Alschuler, chairman of the council on aging board, described volunteering as his way of providing service to the town where he has lived for 50 years.
"It is important people have opportunities for social interaction," he said. "As you get older, making new friends tends to be harder, and you begin to lose people."
Hingham: Town asks for $8 million tax override to avoid slashing town, school services in 2024
'It's a time to connect': Districtwide art shows aims to unite Hingham students
The large, colorful community room, with views through the windows of the outdoor gardens, was decorated with handsome blue and white table cloths and Olive James bouquets on each table for the luncheon. Kate's Table was the caterer, with entertainment by Chris Carter, of West Roxbury, on solo acoustic guitar.
As everyone dined, photographs of the cheerful volunteers were displayed in sequence on a large screen.
State Sen. Patrick O'Connor, of Weymouth, praised the luncheon as another step in the road back to normalcy after COVID and said the names of the volunteers had been read into the record of the state Senate.
Volunteers Philomena Kilkelly and Eileen Ginty serve regular lunches together at the center.
"My husband died and this gets me out of the house," Kilkelly said.
In her contacts there, Ginty, who retired as a psychotherapist, continues to find the rewards of helping people. Ginny Ballou, who teaches a whist class, finds, "you meet some really nice people here."
For board member Jean Silverio, the celebration came at "a wonderful time.
"It was very classy; the tablecloths, the dinner dishes, the centerpieces ... everything was beautifully done," Silverio said.
Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hingham senior center volunteers save town money, help local elders
