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El Dorado Connections, RSVP volunteers
News-Times file photo
Place to quilt: The Stitch and Share Quilters meet to work on different projects during the weekly meeting behind El Do- rado Connections on Thursday. The group is made up of several Union County Quilt Guilds and does a lot of charity work around the city and county including making Christmas stockings, quilts for Agape House and pillows for nursing home residents. El Dorado Connections provides meeting space for several local volunteer groups.
Janice McIntyre
F CityEditor
rom providing caps for hos- pitalized children through the “Knitting for Noggins” pro- gram, to helping seniors fill out
their tax forms, providing “warm, fuzzy socks” to residents of nursing homes and providing food and friendship to the less fortunate in the area, senior volunteers at El Dorado Connections are always helping others.
Cheryl Splawn, volunteer manager at El Dorado Connections, said there are many “wonderful things that our RSVP volunteers do in the community.”
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) volunteers have an opportuni- ty to gather soups, fruit cups, crack- ers and other food items through the “Soups for Seniors” Program. After gathering the food items, volunteers then “help distribute these items to needy senior adults throughout Union County,” she said.
“One recipient just started crying when she saw what she was given. She stated that they didn’t know where their next meal was coming from,” Splawn related.
Through the “Socks for Seniors” Program, RSVP volunteers help distrib- ute “assorted warm, fuzzy socks and lap throws to residents of local nursing homes and assisted living facilities in El Dorado. The residents love to see the volunteers and are excited when they stop and visit with them,” Splawn said.
“The ‘Socks for Seniors’ Program takes place around Christmas, which sometimes is the saddest time of the year for area residents because they don’t have family close by. A resident at Hudson Nursing Home was so over- whelmed by her fuzzy turquoise socks, that she held them close to her heart and smiled one of the biggest smiles ever,” Splawn said.
Through the “Freedom Quilters” Program, RSVP quilters make quilts for Veterans and take part in ceremonies presenting them with patriotic quilts. “Veterans as far back as WWII have been presented with quilts. They also
make military banners for any Veteran who is going through hospice. These banners hang on the doors at Life Touch Hospice, showing support and love and are then given to the family,” Splawn explained.
RSVP volunteers help the Salvation Army at Thanksgiving and Christmas by participating in the “Feeding the Hungry” Program. “Volunteers serve food to those who are in need and might not have a Thanksgiving or a Christmas. This gives the volunteers an opportunity to help individuals and fam- ilies during the holidays,” Splawn said. They also organize and stock shelves, prepare food boxes and deliver items to address the local food insecurity.
“RSVP volunteers have always shown compassion for the less fortunate and these two programs speak for them-
selves – the ‘Knitting for Noggins’ and ‘Quilts of Love’ programs. They knit or crochet caps for children and the caps are then delivered to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. They also make quilts for children at Children’s Hospital. Some of these
quilts will go to children who have lost their homes to any natural disaster – fires, floods, tornadoes, etc. Also, double sized quilts are made for the parents of these children who have lost
See HELP, Page 8
Jeff Tucker
General Manager
jefftucker@tuckerstruck.com
Tucker’s Truck, Inc.
2222 W. Hillsboro • El Dorado
870-862-0101 800-862-0101
El Dorado NEWS-TIMES – SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017 – 7
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