VOLUNTEERING FOR SENIORS PRESENTED (VFS)

CARRY A TUNE KARAOKE FOR SENIORS WITH SONALI DOSHI

On September 3^rd, 2022 “Volunteering for Seniors (VFS)” presented “Carry a tune Karaoke for Seniors anchored by Ms. Sonali Doshi” which was a fun filled evening and yet another successful event to entertain our New England Seniors. Apart from volunteering for many causes in and out of USA, Sonali is passionate about music and has a group named Sonali’s Music Room on Facebook and conducts monthly music sessions. We sincerely thank all the guests who participated in the event and our sincere hard-working volunteers for making this a very memorable evening for the seniors. We thank all the highly enthusiastic karaoke participants for their involvement with lot of energy and good spirit.

The Founder & President of the organization, Ms. Pratima Penumarthy, welcomed everyone and spoke about the organization and its future plan. The event was highlighted with the presence of distinguished guest of the day Ms. Meena Bharath, Chair of State of Massachusetts's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Gifted & Talented Education Advisory Council. She is also Commissioner, Chair of Education and Leadership Development Committee, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American Commission. She has been very supportive to this VFS initiative and has been helping in all possible ways. Ms. Meena Bharath’s dedication to give back to the society, her wisdom and outlook inspire us each day. VFS is very thankful to Ms. Meena Bharath for taking her timeout and being there to motivate and celebrate this glorious event.

Since 2021 we have been conducting VFS Virtual webinars, talk shows and conferences for Senior Citizens and keynote presentations, general sessions, that focuses on supporting health and self-care for seniors and caregivers of older adults and individuals (any age) with dementia across USA. Till date we have conducted close to 20 webinars. VFS’s goal is to connect people to resources that promote aging with independence and Increase community awareness of aging issues and generate community-based solutions to these issues.

VFS is an expanding community of volunteers that provide a helping hand to the senior citizens by providing them the much-needed support. Our vision is to build a society where every Senior is empowered to live life to the fullest potential. VFS strongly believes that relationship-based volunteer services are ideal as they provide more benefit for both the senior and the volunteer. This relationship that is formed between people can provide the warmth and companionship that we all need to maintain a high quality of life. All the webinars and presentations can be accessed from VFS website Volunteering for Seniors, Inc

VFS is grateful for the gracious presence Mr. Robert B. Lancia and his wife Maryann Lancia for their active support since VFS was founded.

The evening’s yet another highlight was Mr. Robert B. Lancia surprised the audience by presenting the citation award to VFS from Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rhode Island Ms. Sabina Matos. VFS and its volunteers are highly grateful to Mr. Robert B. Lancia and the Lieutenant Governor for recognizing our contribution and the ongoing work to uplift the seniors(aged) New Englanders, connect them with resources and build community-based system to support them.  VFS will continue to work hard in this direction and contribute to the welfare of our seniors and to make a difference.

Rashi Joseph, Vice President at Volunteering for Seniors, presented a talk about VFS’s Home wellness program for Seniors. She explained how designing for wellness at home can create spaces that are good for physical and mental health and how people can promote wellness at home through Home Design.

Last but not the least, VFS would like to extend a personal thanks to all the event and food sponsors who helped to raise funds for VFS. VFS also thank the wonderful adult and youth VFS volunteers who have put their time and effort for this event to be successful. We acknowledge all our volunteers for their compassion, awareness, for seeing the need and responding and playing a significant role in helping the New England Seniors.

A team is like a tool set, not one tool can do all the jobs, but together it can, so let’s join our hands together to work with team spirit in the day-to-day functioning of serving seniors and giving opportunities for them to age with dignity and independence. VFS needs more and more volunteers to help and respond to the needs of our seniors in this area. Please contact Akhila Penumarthy, Vice President of Outreach at info@volunteeringforseniors.org if you would like to be part of this noble cause.

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