Caring Carroll, Inc., the volunteer based non-profit that trains and connects volunteers with local isolated seniors living in Carroll County for the purpose of enabling them to age in place for as long as possible, is partnering with the members of the Sunday Night Big Band to “jazz up” awareness and funds for the support of its volunteer program and care recipient services.
Caring Carroll volunteers enable program recipients to remain connected to their community socially, medically, and nutritionally by providing an hour or two of service each week in the areas of friendly visiting, light meal preparation, light housekeeping, yard work, shopping/errands, small home repairs, and transportation to local medical appointments. One care recipient, P.E., remarked, “Caring Carroll gave me the freedom to live in my own home and get the things done that I needed to get done. I have a huge yard with leaves and I am now incapacitated and can no longer rake and they come out and do that every year and for the last three to four years they have done that for me because my husband was very ill. They have gone above and beyond my expectations.” Another care recipient at age 107 excitedly exclaimed, “I love Caring Carroll. They are very good. Some lovely people have helped me!”
Volunteering with Caring Carroll is flexible and rewarding. Diane Bastress says her favorite part of volunteering with Carroll County is the people that she meets, emphasizing that, “the lives of these people are amazing.” She began volunteering with Caring Carroll when she saw a piece in her church’s bulletin, and after two years of service, Diane is able to reflect on the difference her efforts make in the lives of the people she works with. In many cases, she says, “our clients would not be able to live independently without the work of our volunteers.”