The selfless work of volunteers in the region and the impact that work has on people everyday cannot be understated. The good works they do touch more people than they may realize and that altruistic work most often goes unrewarded. That’s precisely why Rittenhouse Village at Valparaiso held a special Volunteer Luncheon on Thursday to celebrate those who spend much of their time helping others.
“We hold a volunteer lunch every year,” said Natalie Reisen, Senior Lifestyle Counselor at Rittenhouse Village at Valparaiso. “Rittenhouse just really likes to stay plugged into the community and really give back to our volunteers. That’s why we do it.”
“There are so many volunteers in the area that assist seniors,” said Reisen. “We’re all here for the same reason and that’s to help seniors in our area so we like to prepare food from our kitchen and invite people in from the community. The nice part is that a lot of our volunteers are in and out of our building and a lot of times they don’t get to sit and enjoy a meal or other things so we like to showcase that for them and give them tours if they’ve never really been in or seen all of our building.”
Partnering with Rittenhouse to honor area volunteers was Life Care Centers of Valparaiso. Cathy Ellis, who is the Marketing Director at Life Care Centers, was working with Natalie to celebrate their volunteers and the amazing work that they do.
“We’ve been doing this for around five years,” said Ellis. “We have a lot of the same volunteers but we really just want to thank them for all that they do for the community and our seniors. They give so much and this is a chance to really give back to them and let them know how much we appreciate all that they do.”
Rittenhouse and Life Care Centers reached out to many local entities, including churches, hospitals, Porter County Adult Care Services and the Visiting Nurses Association, when they put the call out for volunteers to come and enjoy the celebratory luncheon in their honor.
“We reach out to the hospital because there are a lot of volunteers there,” Ellis said. “It’s not just people that volunteer at our organizations and facilities. It’s for everyone who volunteers in the community.”
One volunteer, Bill Hancock from Westville, volunteers at Porter Regional Hospital and came out with his wife Rosemary to enjoy the luncheon. They have a special connection to the hospital and love to give back whenever they can.
“I’ve been volunteering with the hospital for seven years altogether,” said Hancock. “I volunteer with the chaplain and I’ll go around to different rooms and visit patients and see if they would like to see the chaplain.”
“That hospital saved my wife’s life seven years ago,” said Hancock. “She flat-lined in the emergency room twice so it’s a little payback and gratitude for everything they’ve done for us. I love being around the people there and I enjoy being around the volunteers. I’ve met some really nice people there.”