V O L U M E 1 3

I S S U E 1

P U B L I S H E D Q U A R T E R L Y

J U N E 2 0 2 0

H E L L O N E I G H B O R

It is so good to be reaching

out to you with our first news-

letter of 2020! We had no idea

that the world would be such a

different place than it was when

we sent our newsletter last

November.

Our office closed to the

public, March 16 and opened

May 4, when the travel advisory

was lifted. As a nonprofit

providing essential services to

a vulnerable population, staff

worked from home and took

turns coming to the office to

answer phones. This allowed

us to give reassurance and

address critical grocery needs

on a case-by-case basis.

Most services are paused

until June 1, to protect the

health of our seniors and

volunteers, most of whom

are seniors, as well.

Younger volunteers have

been recruited to shop. They

use gift cards to purchase need-

ed items, then leave them for

people who depend on food

pantry items to make it through

the month. Thanks, Duke

Energy Foundation and Kevin

Johnston, for your assistance.

During this time of elevated

uncertainty, please GIVE YOUR

BEST GIFT in the enclosed

envelope, or on our FB page

or website. Your support is

critical! We are grateful for

you and love and miss you!

...Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid; do not be

discouraged, for the Lord your

God will be with you wherever

you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT

Yours in Christ,

Jamey Henderson, Exec. Dir.

• People under age 65 to shop with gift cards & make door drops, 1x/month until food pantries re-stock/open.

• Adopt-A-Grandparent pen pals for summer. 1x/month, sign cards, add stamp & drop off at office to be addressed & mailed. Great for business or

church groups, clubs, students or families with children. Home-made cards or art-work appreciated!

• Collect grocery or household items for seniors or office needs.

We need you NOW more

than ever!

www.samaritancaregivers.org

If not you, who? If not now, when?

Neighbor to Neighbor

Thanks for everything, LaVerne!

Office Needs

• First class stamps

• Lawn & leaf trash bags

• Lysol spray disinfectant

• Quart ZipLoc bags

• Copy paper

• Tall kitchen trash bags

• Grocery & household items

for senior needs or office

In January, Samaritan Caregivers said farewell to agency co-founder, LaVerne Grothouse. LaVerne passed away January 25, 2020 at age 93. She was a long-time parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church. LaVerne is survived by her husband, Dr. Carl Grothouse, six children and many grandchildren. In 1995, LaVerne and close friend, Jane Brown, attended a two-day Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers confer-ence in Monroe MI, at the request of St. Joseph Hospital President, Sister Martin McEntee. Their goal was to

bring back information from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about starting a care giving organization. This was the groundwork that would become Samaritan Caregivers. In April 1996, a local steer-ing committee was formed. “Several times we were going to give up.” LaVerne said during a 2007 interview. “We had a lot of things to do, but weren’t sure just what.” Despite uncertain begin-nings, by 2006, volunteers from Samaritan Caregivers were providing 7000 hours of com-munity service, including res-pite, visiting, rides, shopping, Adopt-A-Grandparent, IRIS (recording the newspaper as it was read, so people could listen on their phone), maintenance, fund raising and more. LaVerne was also the driving force behind Samaritan Caregivers Duck Derby, the organization’s cornerstone fundraising event from 2000—2016. This event grossed $300,144 over 16 years! LaVerne was active with Samaritan Caregivers for many

years; helping people direct-ly, serving on the Board of Directors and later on the Advisory Council. She was a generous donor, attended Fall Banquets and was a frequent visitor in the office, most notably driving her red convertible, an 80th birthday gift! Samaritan Caregivers would not be helping seniors without the tireless efforts of LaVerne and Jane. “What was once enjoyed and deeply loved, we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.”—Helen Keller Much love & gratitude. Jamey Henderson, Executive Director

Samaritan Caregivers recently welcomed Melinda Stanley to the Board of Directors. Melinda is on staff at IU Kokomo and previ-ously was the director of the Kokomo Sports Center. Welcome! When you order ink and toner from Cartridge World through their “EasyOrder” online system, 5% of your purchase benefits Samaritan Caregivers! Same or next day delivery, 100% satisfac-tion, no-cost printer advice, competitive pric-ing & tech support are added benefits! Go to www.cwkokomo.com/samaritancaregivers and sign up now! Thank you to twelve community partners whose sales resulted in contributions totaling $264.48 for 2019! Avoiding stores and doing more shopping on Amazon? Donate to Samaritan Caregivers at Amazon.com when you sign up at http://smile.amazon.com/about and select Samaritan Caregivers. Every purchase helps! Would you like to receive your newsletter via email? Help us reduce paper and expenses by calling 765.453.7611 or emailing info@samaritancaregivers.org to switch from paper to digital! A special thanks to our friends at Trilogy who share our love of seniors! They donated $632 in 2020 with their fundraising efforts! When you shop at Kroger for grocery and household items, you

donate to Samaritan Caregivers! 86 households are participating in Kroger’s Community Rewards for our organization, generating $253.14 for 1st Qtr 2020! Register your Kroger Plus card now at www.krogercommunityrewards.com to help us reach our goal of 100 households in 2020!

All-Pro Plumbing showcased Samaritan Caregivers during an April promotion, where they selected four individuals to receive $25 gift cards from Healing Hands Natural Therapy Spa. They also purchased items from Healing Hands to give to their Adopt-A-Grandparent friends. Then they shared our need for Adopt-A-Grandparent pen pals on their FB page! All-Pro Plumbing is the Way to Go! Are you or someone you know an employee of IN American Water? They match volunteer time and monetary donations on a 1:1 basis, up to $1,000 per employee, per calendar year. Please let us know if you qualify so we can discuss specifics and help more seniors!

Questions About Medicare?

Samaritan Caregivers is a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) provider.

Call 765.453.7611 to schedule your appointment. Make good decisions about health care choices, including

eligibility for low-income premium assistance. WE ARE NOT SELLING ANYTHING!

Want to be a SHIP volunteer?

Enroll now for summer training conducted by the State of

IN, locally or online: 6/22-23 & 6/29-30, 9 am—4 pm. Call 765.453.7611 or email Rebekah at

rgillum@samaritancaregivers.org

HOW WE SERVED IN 2019

22,000 hours of help & hope for seniors! 506 volunteers —-230 seniors

1195 Adopt-A-Grandparent pen pals sent monthly cards 25 seniors receiving critical monthly food pantry items

2585 trips to doctors/dentists, banks, Community Howard, Ascension St. Vincent Kokomo, CVS,

Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, Meijer, Aldi, Dollar Tree, Rural King, post office, library and more!

$1000 was received from the Community Foundation of Howard County for a day of service to reduce in-home fall

risks, the place where most falls occur for people 65+.

Originally planned for spring 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event has not yet been scheduled.

Skilled and non-skilled volunteer teams and sponsors are need-ed! Want to be included? Call 765.453.7611 or email Jamey at jhenderson@samaritancaregivers.org. Watch for more info!

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR SENIORS

During Volunteer Recognition Month in April, Samaritan Caregivers recognized individuals making a difference in the lives of seniors. THANK YOU SHIP Volunteers: Jan Drac, Harry Holkenbrink, Becky Irick, Marcia Keating,

C. Anne Girton Kumeh, Judi McCoy, Diana & Ed Pulver; as well as, Jan Drac, Kennie Hutchison and Willie Miller.

These caring people have given over 700 hours through Medicare counseling, board of directors, fundraising committees, driving, office cleaning, food pantry delivery, shopping, newsletter folding, and visiting!

In Memory of LaVerne Grothouse

Lona & George Alexander Marie Antony

William & Jenien Beach Milt & Pat Bevington

Patricia E. Bonsib Judi & Phil Bounsall

Abby Breedlove Royla J. Brown

Bucheri McCarty & Metz Susan & Bryan Butz

Carol Chambers Chippendale Men’s Group Golfers

Lawrence & Sharon Cowan Jennifer Durham

Jeff & Roberta Egloff David & Donna Ernst Sid & Carole Faulkner

William & Carol Hubbard Steve Irick

Ronal & Carol Kugley Mike & Suzie Maher

Sue McFarland Gene & Nancy McGarvey

Rick & Barbara Miller Michael & Molly Mirande

Stan Ortman Ruth Reddersdorf

Debbie Reeder Lawrence & Carol Ricci

Brenda Royer Dr Dawn Sabau & Mike Augustyn

Rita Sahm Carol Spencer

Daniel & Sue Sterr Abbe Talbert

Steven E. Wdowka Jana Whitlock

In Memory of Judge Richard Maughmer

Jim & Marvel Butcher

In Memory of Mike Dunn

Norma Dunn

In Memory of Jeff Stout

Christina Bouge

In Memory of Shirley McIndoo

Center Road Church of Christ Golden Agers

In Memory of Thomas Hamilton

In Honor of Lenora McQuinn

Dianna Delgado & Robert Mullen

In Memory of Keith Slaughter

Karen & Tom Dinardo

In Memory of Barbara Smith

Kay Faucett

In Memory of Lloyd Lear

Harold & Joyce Fields

In Memory of Mel Scheel

Bill & Karen Grimm

In Memory of Nancy Sheakley

Carolyn Jacobs

In Memory of Chris Kellum & Dr John Bowman

Joan Kellum

In Memory of Arlene K Smith

Chester Smith

Memorials & Honorariums

October 16, 2019– April15, 2020

In Memory of Jerry Leach

Kathleen Leach

In Memory of Jeanne Forkner

Charles & Susan Lebo

In Memory of Martha Miller

Steve & Peggy Martelli Chuck and Marge Pennington

In Memory of

Chet Mason & Jean Rhinehart

Sylvia Mason

In Memory of Clarence Holman

Arlene Morelock

In Memory of Earl R Brown

Corrine Pickering

In Memory of Lori Kleiman

Roy & Mary Quinn

In Memory of Peter Thomas Robinson

Lin Rikard

In Memory of Mary Lou Snead

John Snead

In Memory of Bill Nicholson

Sonny & Sue Tickfer

In Memory of Bob Wall

Marilyn Wall

In Memory of Chettie Kemppainen

Wayne & Lauren West

Thanks to the generosity of Duke Energy Foundation, with help from Kevin Johnston,

Samaritan Caregivers received $1000 in COVID-19 funding for

Emergency Groceries. Samaritan Caregivers staff and

younger volunteers used gift cards to shop locally and drop off items. This ensured

that seniors had food and household items normally received from food pantries.

Samaritan Caregivers Neighborhood

Dr. Hal King Jan King

Suzanne King Dr Kurt Kingseed

Cindy Kistner Wes Kistner

Kokomo Urology, Inc. Shirley/Larry Kuhns

Anne/Timothy Kumeh George/Anndora Laflin

Phillip/Joan Lake Ray/Louise Lamb

Bill/Barbara Lambert Drew Larison

Thomas/Lucille Layton Kathleen Leach

Ron/Mary Louise Leisure Norma J.Lint

David H. Little Pam Maloney Glenda Mann

Keith/Page Mann Larry Mann

Steve/Peggy Martelli Sylvia Mason

B.J./Helen Matchett Don/Judie McCoy

Jim/Nancy McFadyen Gene/Nancy McGarvey

James McIntyre Matt/Dian McKinney

Margie Means Mary Miner

Helen Moloch Arlene Morelock Jan/Steve Myers

Ted/Dianne Neidlinger Shelly Nicholas

Ohio Co. Elementary-Middle School P E O Sisterhood Chapter CY

Dr Phillip Pate John/Rhonda Patterson

Carole Petro George/Martha Phares

Corrine Pickering Popcorn Café—Grace Jones

Susan J Powell Ellen Privett

Ed/Diana Pulver Rosemary Quakenbush

Roy/Mary Quinn Kyle/Lisa Rayl

Patty Renbarger Alice Rexing

Lawrence/Carol Ricci Lin Rikard

Edwin Riley Rising Sun-Ohio Co. Schools

Bruce/Liz Robinson Glenn Rodgers, Jr.

Fannie Rody John/Maria Rudy

Jolene Rule John Rutherford Rebecca Sanders

Jerry/Marsha Santen Cathy Scott/Rick Walton

Ima Jean Shelton Stan/Pat Shuey

Jim/Heather Simpson Mary Slaughter Marilyn Skinner Chester Smith

Don/Karen Smith Phyllis Jean Smith

BELIEVER: $2500 + Anonymous

Ascension—St. Vincent Kokomo Royla J Brown

Andy Roller Shiloh UMC

Smith Fuqua Foundation

Samaritan: $1000-$2400

Anonymous Karen Berg

Scott/Joan Campbell First Congregational Church

Dianna Delgado/Robert Mullen Alan/Melissa Girton

The Estate of Robert Knolinski Jeff/Leslee Lantz Jerral/Karen Long

Chuck/Marge Pennington Jim/Vanessa Pressgrove

Fred/Jane Richter Katherine Scheffler

Jim/Barb Schlie E.P. Severns

James/Teresa Simpson St. Patrick Catholic Church

Trilogy Health Service

Caregiver: $500-$999 Anonymous

David/Donna Brownfield Anne Marie Conyers

Del-Ra Club Faith UMC Grace UMC

Grace UMC Women Dr Carl Grothouse

Charles/Patricia Hinders LPL Financial Foundation

Joan Kellum James/Amy Lucas

Wilbur Miller Morning Star Church-Faithful Followers ABF Class

Paul/Kathy Pfettscher Tom/Betty (Hegenbart) Poppas

Martina Quillen Bruce/Carol Savage

Tom/Carol Scherschel Tom/Judy Sheehan

Shiloh UMC Bill/Lyn Shirley

Neighbor: $250-$499 Anonymous

Christina Bogue Cindy/William Brock

Courtney Cain Tom/Leelia Cornell Rex/Kara Gingerich

Dr Pratap/Nirmala Gohil Douglas/Angela Heckman

Rachel Jenkins Carl/Waneta Johnson

Steve/Sue Jones Jason Kelly

Paul/Susan Manning Wayne McElfresh

Mark/Rosemary Miller Rebecca Miller Carole Murdock

Merrell/Barbara Owen St. Lukes UMC Builders Class

Craig/Dawn Sell Brenda Snow

friend: $25-$249

Sheila Adair Anonymous

Shirley Ashcraft Kathleen Babchuk Bill/Sharon Bassett

Marie Becker Rhonda/Brent Blinn Robert/Nancy Blue

Christina Bogue Kathryn F. Books

Barbara Boruff Richard/Beverly Broeker

Milton Brown Bucheri McCarty & Metz/Amy Lucas

Jayne Bunce Janet Burke

Business System Solutions/Jeff Zollman Jim/Marvel Butcher

Ellora Butler Robin Carroll

Renee/Wes Chandler Patty Cohee

Constance M Collins Victoria Conwell Dorothy Crebo Stephen Daily Evelyn Delano

Joni Delon James/Jean Douce

Jan Drac Greg/Patricia Drake

Norma Dunn Phyllis Dye Ron Eads

Matthew Eastburn Jo Anne Edwards

Faith Presbyterian Church Kay Faucett

Sid/Carole Faulkner Jaetta Ferguson

Harold/Joyce Fields Marilyn Freelan Barbara Garrard

William/Karen Grimm M Kathryn Hagenow

Laura Andrews Hapner Thomas/Dorothy Harrell

Daniel/Ann Harrigan Frank Harvey

Dick/Darlene Henderson Jamey Henderson Vivian Heronemus Mike/Brenda Imbler

Larry/Judy Ingle Carolyn Jacobs

Ralph/Cindy Joyce Steve/Sue Kay

Suzanne Kearney Corbin King

Randall /Lynda Smith John Snead

Beverly Snodgrass Patricia Sottong

Southside Christian Church Madonna Streavel Dick/Doll Stroud

Ruth Suter David/Karen Sward

Abbe Talbert Lori Tate

Jeff Tenbrook/Annette Kuntz Sonny/Sue Tickfer Kim Knarr Tracy

Dianne Waggaman Robert/Karen Walck

Marilyn Wall Janice Webb

Phillip/Judith Wehmeyer Wayne/Lauren West Christine Whitaker

Norman Wilson Doug Workinger

Doris Wotring Ed/Judy Zakrzewski

GIVING TUESDAY

Tuesday, May 5

Thanks to 24 caring donors, $1140 raised!

Anonymous Bill Brock

Cindy Brock Joanie Campbell

Patty Cohee Jaetta Ferguson

Vickie Gates Rebekah Gillum Laura Hapner

Barbara Hekimian Jamey Henderson

C.Anne Girton Kumeh Connie Sue McCollum

Carole Murdock Nicole Peel

Vanessa Pressgrove Niki Ramey

Teresa Simpson Jeri Smith

Kay Spencer Judy Wehmeyer

Lauren West

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN

Donations received January 8, 2019-April 15, 2020

It is only through donations like yours that we continue to provide no-cost assistance to seniors aging in place!

Samaritan Caregivers is conducting a campaign to raise $50,000. Why now?

A significant funding reduction from the United Way

of Howard & Tipton Counties and a downturn in contributions due to COVID-19 have created a critical

shortfall in our funds that help seniors.

During this pandemic, Samaritan Caregivers continues to encourage our friends and provide food and household items to older adults living at home.

If your ability to give has been affected by COVID-19,

we appreciate your continued support by prayer or volunteering or donating items.

However, if you are able, will you give a generous

gift today? Your contribution makes a daily difference!

Please return your donation in the enclosed envelope, or give conveniently at

www.samaritancaregivers.org or through our Face Book page.

We are asking you to give a tax-deductible contribution

now so we can continue to give no-cost help and hope to seniors.

WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOU!

2705 S. Berkley Rd. Ste 3C

Kokomo, IN 46902

Phone: 765-453-7611

E-mail:

info@samaritancaregivers.org

Website:

www.samaritancaregivers.org

Office Hours:

8:00 am - 4:00 pm Monday-Thursday

8:00 am - noon Friday

Mission Statement

Volunteers providing free help for people 65

and over, still living at home in

Howard County to maintain

independent living.

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT #186 KOKOMO, IN

Return Service Requested

Complete list of winners, photos and more www.samaritancaregivers.org

38 booths —-4,500 tickets sold—-over $18,000 raised—THANKS! Critic’s Choice: Baked—-J Edwards; Cook McDoogal’s Irish Pub

Beverage—-Ascension At Home/Big Ben Coffee Candy—-Trilogy Health Services; So Good Candies

Miscellaneous—-Kokomo Area Career Center; Glover’s Ice Cream Best Display: Trilogy Health Services; Dreams to Reality

Newcomer Award—-St. Patrick Catholic Church