LITA Marin
Taking the lonely out of aging since 1975
Special thanks to The Rotary Club of Central Marin! This club recently donated $3,000 to support LITA's mission. The club meets every Monday at noon at the Left Bank, 507 Magnolia in Larkspur. Guests are always welcome. To find out more, visit http://rotarysfbayarea.org/
Big thanks to Leadership Novato's Class of 2013's Team Army! This great group merged our Facebook pages, got us going on Twitter, and provided advice and contact information for volunteer and community outreach.
LITA a la Heart on Saturday, May 11 was a great evening! Dan Noyes of KGO-TV emceed the evening's program. Highlights included presentation of the volunteer awards (see below) and the personal stories many volunteers shared about their friendships with residents of long-term care facilities. Catered by An Affair to Remember, the food was delicious and Redwood High's Jazz Collective set the mood with upbeat tunes.
2013 LITA Awards
Pete Croughan Volunteer Award: Eileen Murray
Rusty Pet Connection Volunteer Award: Lori Silva and "Drake"
Aline Shaw LITA Angel Award: Creekwood Senior Home, Novato
Volunteer Service Awards
Five Years: Michelle Kakleas and Fredrick Schaeffer, LITA Volunteers; Geoff Dugmore and Lowell Smith, LITA Board; and Liz Naughton Hopkins, LITA Bridging Generations Teacher
Ten Years: Virginia Humphries, LITA Volunteer and Mary Jane Burke, LITA Advisory Board
Fifteen Years: Susan Pryor, LITA Volunteer
Twenty Years: Eileen Murray, LITA Volunteer and Cheryl Jennings, LITA Advisory Board
__________________
What are LITA friendships like? Several wonderful volunteers and their dear friends who live in long-term care facilities share their stories in LITA's video.
___________________
Thanks to Novato's Rhythm Dance Center students for choosing LITA as the 2013 beneficiary of their annual charity dance performed during the Center's Winter recital. What a talented and generous group! Click here to view the LITA Charity Dance.
Testimonials
What it's like to volunteer with LITA
Join us on Facebook
Our Programs
LITA volunteers visit lonely and isolated elderly in long-term care facilities throughout Marin County. Volunteers range in age from 8 to 83 and visit alone, with children, pets, or as part of elementary school classroom visits – or participate in our annual Holiday Gifts for the Elderly program. If you have 30 minutes and a little love, you are a perfect candidate for LITA Marin.
Sixty percent of the elderly living in facilities have very few, if any, visitors. One-to-One Friends is the heart of LITA’s face of friendship for the elderly and disabled, matching volunteers with residents of long-term care facilities for weekly visits. LITA volunteers bring friendship, laughter and something to look forward to for otherwise isolated elderly people.
When people move into a long-term care facility, they must often leave a beloved pet behind. This separation from
their most constant companion is often the most devastating. The Pet Connection involves a volunteer’s pet as part of
their weekly visits.
LITA frequently receives requests from a facility for a volunteer with a pet. Pet Therapy visits give a pet lover much pleasure and may even make a connection with a person who has not been responsive to other types of interactions.
Bridging Generations matches classrooms of elementary school children with residents of care facilities for monthly
visits during the school year. It is a powerful experience for both youth and elders as they develop warm and close
friendships.
LITA provides the needed coordination, project supplies and transportation, if necessary, in order to make this a
meaningful experience for seniors and students alike.
LITA Families matches families with residents of facilities for weekly visits. Some visit several people at smaller
facilities, while others are matched with one individual for long-term friendship and support.
A family visit to a LITA elder can be a source of much joy and learning for all involved!
Each December, LITA collects and wraps new donated gifts for the elderly living in facilities and low-income housing in Marin County. These gifts are given to those elders who would otherwise be forgotten. This project is made possible with the generous help of volunteers who’s hearts go out to the elderly during the holiday season. A simple, elder-appropriate gift can lift the heart of a lonely person at this special time of year.