Dozens of volunteers in Orange County have been checking on hundreds of seniors to fight isolation and loneliness during the pandemic.
Volunteer Mark Pennington says he regularly calls to check on a 94-year-old Peggy Coke as part of Saint Jude Medical Centerâs âCheer a Seniorâ program.
âPeggy sometimes feels like sheâs locked down in her own house. We have to talk more on the phone,â he said âThereâs a lot of seniors that just donât have anyone close by.â
Coke said she is so appreciative to have people who care.
âThey help me with my laundry. With cleaning the house. Going to the grocery story. Keeping me company, so that Iâm not lonely,â She said. âI couldnât get along without it. They are so helpful.â
The Cheer a Senior Program started with 20 volunteers and about 80 seniors when the pandemic began, said St. Jude Medical Centerâs Clinical Supervisor of Senior Services Carole DupĂ©e.
But has rapidly grown to more than 80 volunteers and more than 400 seniors.
âThe Cheer a Senior program involves calling older adults every week, checking in with them and making conversation so they donât feel so lonely and out-of-sync with everything else,â DupĂ©e said.
But itâs also about getting groceries or medication picked up.
âVery often we pay for those things,â she said. âBut sometimes thatâs hard for them to do.â
People can volunteer for the Cheer a Senior Program at Saint Jude Medical Centerâs Senior Services.