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by Gregg Senko
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On May 25th, a collaborative partnership between Visiting Angels and Friendship APL was put to use as staff and volunteers of both organizations headed to pay a visit to some seniors in Avon. No, this wasn’t the class of 2017 we were connecting with, but some very excited senior citizens who reside at the beautiful and spacious Rose Senior Living Center. With a convoy of FAPL folks in tow, we all arrived on a very rainy Thursday afternoon. Some had cats, some had dogs, but we all got rather wet on the brief walk from car to front door. Not even the Flash would’ve been fast enough to run between the drops. Great weather for a duck, right?
Once inside, we were kindly greeted by Rose Senior Living staff and guided to a lounge area where some folks were eagerly awaiting getting acquainted with the kittens and dogs we brought with us. Some were content with watching the animals from afar, while most preferred that hands-on experience of being able to interact with the four-legged wonders. I’ve done volunteer work at a senior living facility in the past and it proves to be a very rewarding experience watching the eyes of the residents light up when they get to participate in moments like these.
While all the animals we brought with us were available for adoption, this was more of a therapeutic visit rather than an adoption promo. Still, some animals just sell themselves. Take Mercury for instance. He’s a 3-year old border collie-mix surrendered in Amish country for euthanization. FAPL recently picked up both him and a sibling. I had the honor of handling the somewhat nervous yet very gentle Mercury at the May 25th event. Low and behold, Mercury may have just found a new home by the day’s end. One Rose staff member in particular took to the shiny-coated, sad-eyed pooch and that may have been a match made.
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The visit went extremely well and we look forward to working with the good people at Visiting Angels and Rose Senior Living again!
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