YWCA Tri-County Area’s (YW3CA) Foster Grandparent Program volunteers are missing the opportunity to work with students – as it’s now been over 5 months since they were last able to serve students in their community.
Although the program volunteers aren’t able to serve in their school or childcare sites, they have been enjoying checking in with one another and our program team over the past several months. Our team members call every one of our volunteers each week to check in with them and make sure they are doing alright at home.
Typically around the end of the school year, our Foster Grandparent Program team puts together a recognition event that honors the hard work and dedication that is exhibited by each and every one of our Foster Grandparent volunteers. This year’s volunteer recognition looked just a bit different…
Over the course of a few days, our Foster Grandparent Team drove across Montgomery County to deliver recognition gift baskets to each of our 36 active volunteers. These gift baskets included Foster Grandparent Program t-shirts, crossword puzzle books, journals, pens, pencils, gift cards, candy, backpacks and more!
Our volunteers were particularly excited to receive crossword puzzles and word search books to help keep their minds stimulated while staying safe at home. Many volunteers also expressed their joy in receiving journals – an easy way to write letters to their family and friends.
With the help of Mitzvah Circle – an organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families experiencing poverty – YW3CA was able to give each one of our Foster Grandparent Program volunteers a backpack for the upcoming school year.
In additional to filling the gift baskets and backpacks, we also donated boxes of meals and food to our volunteers through a generous donation from Philabundance. Philadbundance, located in Philadelphia, is the largest hunger relief organization in the Delaware Valley.
Foster Grandparents Program, a program of the federal Corporation for National and Community Service’s Senior Corps matches adults 55 and older with children in their schools to provide mentoring and educational support.
We are still looking to recruit additional volunteers and are happy to offer the intake process virtually! To learn more and become a Foster Grandparent volunteer, go to: www.ywcatricountyarea.org/foster-grandparent-program/.
