Published: September 20, 2009 11:07 pm      

Seniors quietly hard at work in program

Nursing homes, hospitals, libraries, schools — none of them could operate as efficiently without the help of volunteers. By offering their time free of charge to assist the professionals in those settings, volunteers help public and private facilities stretch their budgets and ease the stress on paid staffers.

One source of volunteer workers in the region is the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, the country’s largest volunteer network for people age 55 and over. Nationally, the organization boasts nearly half-a-million volunteers.

In Greenbrier County, RSVP has not been widely publicized, perhaps explaining why those working to craft a new comprehensive plan for the county touted the importance of forming an RSVP corps, not realizing the senior volunteers were already quietly at work in local communities.

Laura Sevy took the reins of the Greenbrier County senior corps in May, adding it to her responsibilities in her home county of Fayette. Both are outposts of the region’s main RSVP office in Summersville.

Sevy is still in the process of getting acquainted with the people and the “volunteer stations” — sites where RSVP volunteers work — but she has the advantage of having served as director of the Greenbrier County Committee on Aging for 10 years in the past.

“Our (committee on aging) nutrition sites had RSVP volunteers then, too,” Sevy recalls.

The senior centers in Fairlea and Rupert still receive help from the RSVP workers, as do Greenbrier Valley Hospice, Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, Gateway Industries, the Ronceverte Public Library, Frankford Elementary School, the CEOS club in Williamsburg, the women’s club in Rupert and four Greenbrier County nursing homes: Autumn Way in Rupert, the Brier in Ronceverte, Greenbrier Manor in Fairlea and Heartland in Rainelle.

In all, RSVP has 89 volunteers in Greenbrier County. They logged more than 1,000 hours of service in 2008.

“Basically, we want to be beneficial to the community,” Sevy explains. “People over 55 have a wealth of knowledge that needs to be shared.”

RSVP is not confined to just one venue, nor are its volunteers told where to serve or how much time to devote to the project.

“It doesn’t conflict with any other volunteer work you do,” notes Sevy, who spends several hours each week volunteering in addition to filling the post of senior corps coordinator in two counties for RSVP.

“I volunteer as much as I can, with my job,” Sevy says. “I schedule my work around my volunteering.”

Sevy is president of the Fayette County Garden Council, serves as a 4-H leader and, along with her husband, volunteers at 4-H camp every summer. She also participates in a mentoring program at Midland Trail High School.

“The teachers select the children for the program,” Sevy says. “And two days every month, we (volunteers) meet with our students for 45 minutes of one-on-one mentoring. Once a month, we talk with Head Start students. It’s a wonderful program.”

The program was such a success last year that teachers decided to continue it this fall.

“The teachers were impressed with the positive changes in the kids; they had more confidence, self-esteem, better attitudes,” Sevy notes.

“We became real attached to our students we were mentoring,” she adds. “Mine was in 4-H. We talked about that a lot.”

To spread the word about RSVP, Sevy speaks to any interested civic organization in her area. She has addressed garden clubs, Lions clubs, AARP chapters and CEOS clubs, among others. Programs vary from general information about joining RSVP to a “how-to” demonstration on assembling a disaster kit in a coffee can.

One RSVP project Sevy is particularly interested in promoting is the File of Life. Formerly called the Vial of Life, the file is actually a magnetic pouch that easily adheres to the front of a refrigerator. Inside the pouch is a folding card on which the resident of the home records such information as emergency contacts, medical data and insurance numbers.

Also included in the pouch are a sticker to be applied to the window of the door to the home to let emergency workers know to look for the file on the fridge and a wallet-sized version of the file to be carried in a pocket or purse.

“I know of several instances where the file has been used by emergency workers to get valuable information about an unconscious patient,” Sevy says.

“We’re distributing as many of the Files of Life as possible to seniors,” she adds.

RSVP volunteers keep track of their hours and assignments on a form that also requires the signature of a supervisor at the volunteer station. Twice a year, RSVP stages special programs to recognize the volunteers who submit time sheets.

“In June, we have a luncheon and recognition program, with a fun theme each year,” Sevy says.

Volunteers receive certificates denoting their hours worked and goodie bags, and door prizes are awarded.

A Christmas social is held in Summersville each year as well, serving as a thank you to all the volunteers in the four-county region, which comprises Greenbrier, Fayette, Nicholas and Webster counties.

To find out more about RSVP opportunities in either Greenbrier or Fayette county, call Sevy at 304-438-8355 or e-mail mssevyl@hotmail.com.

— E-mail: talvey@register-herald.com