Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this January 26, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here.
At 3.30, we're going to talk with our friends from Wisconsin-Rapis Public Schools.
We have Craig Rohren joining us, super-intended over there,
along with Tina Walner, principal of Grove Elementary.
Looking forward to that.
Right now, looking real forward to talking to our friend Peggy Curth.
Peggy is the volunteer coordinator over at the Aging and Disability Resource Center
of Central Wisconsin.
Peggy, thanks for joining us.
Thank you for having me on.
Peggy, I always appreciate the time and love talking with our friends from the ADRC.
Appreciate all the work that you all do over there.
I'm curious as a volunteer coordinator, we're going to get into
not only opportunities for people to volunteer, but some of the things that you guys do over there.
But with a job like this, Peggy, I think that a lot of us don't necessarily understand
everything that goes into it.
So I'm just curious, I just had a couple of really quick questions for you about
volunteering in general when it comes to over at the ADRC.
There's a number of great volunteer opportunities.
Is this something that you're always looking at for more like avenues for people to volunteer,
other ways for people to volunteer?
Well, we do hope to add some other opportunities kind of down the line,
but right now, the ones that we have available are kind of where we're at.
But we're willing to be flexible too, and if someone has a great idea, we'd love to hear from them.
And Peggy, you hit it right out the park for me, because that's exactly what I wanted to
hit on here. When we're talking about these volunteer opportunities, with everything we're talking
about really with the ADRC, keep in mind that they will work with you, that they like to work with
people. They will work with their community. I think that when I've talked to people
about meals on wheels and some other things in the past, that is usually one of the first things
that comes up. Oh, I've got such a busy schedule. I'm so pulled this way and pulled that way.
I don't know how I'd ever be able to help. And sure enough, the ADRC oftentimes can work with
people on those things. So I want to already get that out there right away, and we'll touch on
it a little bit more as we go along. So I appreciate you, Peggy. Thank you.
You're welcome. Thanks. Let's start out talking a little of some of the things that you do over there,
like the senior dining. Let's start right there. Okay. Yeah. So senior dining is one program that we
have, which is very popular. In Wisconsin Rapids, we have a senior dining site set up at Centrelia
Center. And it's an opportunity for adults that are 60 and older to come and have a hot, healthy
meal at a very reasonable cost, and also be able to socialize with other people, which is really
important for all of us. Yeah. And at the Wisconsin Rapids site, they do also have
different activities that happen throughout the month, kind of in collaboration with the meal.
So it's not always just coming and having a meal, but there's a few times coming up in February
where you can also play bingo, Jane or cut our senior dining site manager really does a great
job at doing different activities or holidays are coming up of making it very festive.
I see that you have on here frequent dining prizes the last day of the month, which is fun.
And funny Friday, share your funny jokes or stories. Gosh, that's a great idea. That's a wonderful
idea. Yes, especially this time of the year with the kind of weather we've had, which is
very gloomy or the Arctic blast that we had last week. It's nice to be able to get out, come to a
place that's a warm location also and talk about things that are funny because I think we need
that this time of the year. Well, and not for nothing, just me speaking here from my money,
some of the funniest people I've ever met are seniors that for one, they've been around longer,
they've heard more jokes. They've got more material to work with, but they do. Oftentimes,
their perspective is also just as funny or the way that they deliver a joke. You can hear a joke
delivered by other people, but a senior delivers it and it's just funny or it's just something to it
and everything. You mentioned the bingo. I see February 5th. There'll be bingo at 11 and February
19th. There'll be bingo at 11. So that as you touched on that's going to be fun too. That's a nice
added. We love bingo around here. Yeah, well, how do you know what's not to love about bingo?
Yeah, absolutely. And for those that don't know, this February has is a leap year. So we have a
leap day special drawing going on. We do. We do. So kind of, you know, we don't always have
February 29th every year. So it's an opportunity to again celebrate and just have fun with the day-to-day
things that are happening. Peggy, you brought up a couple of really important points about the
senior dining as well. Certainly, there is the nutritional value. I forget to eat all the time.
I'm horrible at this and I'm in my 40s and I've done this my whole life. It's something that as you
get older, it can be more of a detriment though to not only forget about eating, but just not have
an appetite sometimes. So dining with others can sort of, it can improve that, can help with that.
It can, you know, I live alone. So I understand the difficulty in going home and being motivated to make
a full meal for myself. It just doesn't always seem worth it. So it is really important for people
to get out and talk with other people and have that meal. I can really create a sense of community,
which again, if you're living on your own, is really important. And again, I think especially in
the winter time where we tend to be a little more isolated from people. And that part is where I'm
going to piggyback off of next because the socialization of this, I don't get out enough. I don't
do enough. I don't talk to enough people. And again, I'm pretty social and I work in a very
social job and everything. And I don't do enough of those things when you get into retirement,
when you get up there, when maybe family members move or aren't around, those numbers start to
do and deliver more. The opportunities to socialize start to do and deliver more. So getting out there
and doing that, like, I don't think we, in fact, I know I feel very confident about this. We don't
give ourselves enough wins, like the little victories in life. And if you're a senior and you
get yourself, you maybe don't feel like it, but you get yourself up, you go to the senior dining,
that's a win. You made the attempt. You got up, you got and tried and did it. Just doing those
kind of things are a victory in a win. Let alone going to the dining and having a good time,
having good conversations. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I definitely know what it's like sometimes to
feel like you don't want to get up, get dressed. Yeah, we all have those days.
Cozy house and go somewhere, but it really can make a big difference in your mood, your perspectives.
It might be something we have. A lot of our volunteers also have a meal there. So
not saying that everyone who comes and has a meal decides to volunteer, but it might be something
that once you're around people and you're talking and having fun that you decide,
oh, it might be kind of nice to come earlier and help, you know, help package meals or meals on
wheels or help get the dining site ready. Yeah, it's a great point. And another opportunity for
you to maybe if you are looking to volunteer, checking this out and kind of getting your feet
in the water a little bit and seeing how things go over at the EDRC. Well, go ahead, sorry, Peg.
Oh, no, I was just agreeing with you. Peggy, one of the things that we do when we talk with
our EDRC is certainly talk about the things that you guys do over there and really focus on our
rapids location, such, but there is the Nakusa community center as well. We want to reference.
Yes. And this the Nakusa community center, we just recently, like less than a year ago,
maybe six months, reopened that site. It had been closed since COVID.
We had tried to reopen a few years ago, but had difficulty finding staff to actually run the
the dining site. But we're very happy that now we're now we have the site open. They serve
lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays at noon. And again, that one, that site will also have different
fun activities on those days. The kitchen manager is newer, so we're kind of, you know, getting
your feet and getting to know the community and all that's part of that role. But we're really
excited to be able to have that in Nakusa again. So excited. First off, a big congratulations to
everybody that made this happen and to the community of Nakusa for this back opening. I don't know
how much we've gotten to talk since it's opened up again. So I'm really glad to be able to note it
and talk about it. And again, a big shout out to everybody. Congratulations on that. That takes a
lot of work behind the scenes to make things like that happen. But Peggy, I don't mean to go off
in a side road here, but you did mention that the hold up and having the facility open and needing
people, we're always, we have younger people out there listening all the time. We're always
trying to help people get into industries or let people know about different industries that could
use good people in them. This is certainly one of them. So I just wanted to note that if you're
out there, you're on the fence about where to go with your career. Working in this industry
is one of the most rewarding industries you can find. And you know, I didn't list this on
on our notes, but since you mentioned that, I did want to just put a plug in. We do have an open
position for our support staff in Wisconsin Rapids. It'll be a part-time position, 28 hours a week,
helping look at the front desk and that position's involved a lot with the nutrition program as
far as taking reservations and getting meal counts in. So if anyone's interested,
I'm not sure if it's on the marathon county website yet, but they could always give our
office a call if they're looking for more information. Yeah, I'm on ADRC-CW.org right now,
and I don't see it right now, but I do see links and ways to find out more about that and other
opportunities like we've talked about. So be sure to check out the webpage ADRC-CW.org and
before we wrap up, we'll get Peggy's information to you out there so you can contact her as well.
Peggy, as far as the Nikusa Community Center, that's located at 416 Cresview Lane in beautiful
Nikusa, serving Monday through and Wednesday at noon. Who is eligible to take in this dining?
Again, it would be anyone who's 60 and older, their spouse or partner, if even if they're
under 60, and adults with disabilities, if they're living with someone who would be eligible and
would be attending, they're also eligible to come to the site and get a meal. Is it do you need
to make a reservation for this? Yes, so we do call our reservations into the caterer the day before,
so if you wanted to attend, let's say Monday, you would need to call today by noon so that we can
add that to our count and make sure we have enough food for everyone. Excellent. And what's the
number that they can call to be able to do that? They can call our 800 number. It's 888-486-9545.
Excellent. We'll get that number out there again before we wrap up. And let's go ahead and take
some time now to talk a little bit about volunteer opportunities. We've mentioned some things about
these a little bit, and we've certainly talked about this in the past, but we're always wanting to
reach new people, and we always have new listeners out there. So let's go ahead and dive into meals
on wheels first, and we're looking for meals on wheels drivers. What is meals on wheels for those
that don't know? And what would a driver do? So, meals on wheels is for people again who are
60 and older, but are considered more homebound. So that could be maybe they've lost their
transportation and don't have the ability to get out to a grocery store, or they're recovering
from a surgery, and they're not as able physically to make a meal for themselves, or it could be
they're at a point in their life, or either it's just difficult physically or mentally,
emotionally, to prepare a meal. They're eligible to have a meal delivered directly to them at their
house. We do that over the lunch hour again, and heavily rely on having volunteers
actually deliver those meals. When would the routes be taking place? What time of the day,
what days of the week? Sure. So we deliver meal on wheels Monday through Fridays, and the
approximate time that volunteers come in to pick up their meals is like around 10, 30, 10, 45,
and depending on the route, it could take an hour or up to an hour and a half,
but that being said, if somebody has a really limited time frame, we can, Jane is very willing to
work with people and maybe try and lighten up a route that would get done in a shorter amount of
time. Yeah, I know this for a fact. The ADRC will work with you in your schedule. When I did this
out in California, I had the weirdest, craziest schedule. I was acting in a TV show, and I'm all over
the place and all over the state. And I went in there and honestly, being very genuine about this,
I went in thinking, okay, they're probably not going to be able to use me for this. Maybe I can
volunteer for something else. And I just figured that I'd volunteer for something else, something
simple. And then when I told them my schedule, they didn't blink and I, okay, well, this house
right here, then actually there's a house right next to it. If you were willing to, you could also
drop off too. So I only had two people on my route, but it was, it's still to this day,
one of the greatest volunteering experiences and one of the greatest things I have done with my
free time. I remember the gentleman and the lady that I dropped off meals too vividly,
and I appreciated my time with them so very much. And I appreciated the ADRC giving me that
opportunity, giving me a chance to be able to do something like that, to be able to put back into my
community that way. So I can't speak higher enough about this, not only doing it, but finding the
opportunity, finding the time to do it, not only is it benefit obviously the clientele and the people
getting these meals, but you are going to feel so good from it. The volunteering benefits for you
yourself are just as impactful as what you do for others. Yes, exactly. I couldn't say it any
better than that. I was just reading the cue card, just the way you wrote it up Peggy, just the
another thing to keep in mind is adopting a route. Yeah, so this is a pretty fun concept.
Adapter route would be where a group of people decide to commit to having someone deliver,
maybe it's once a week on Tuesdays, and they would just rotate people through their group. So
each person might only end up delivering meals one time a month or a couple times a month.
And it works out really nice. It helps us out a lot because then we know that route is covered,
no matter what. And it also is kind of a benefit to that group because again, it's not a
for people who have a tighter schedule. It's not necessarily a weekly commitment for them.
And like ODC adopted a route. So they're delivering meals on wheels in the Wisconsin Rapids area.
And that was one group that we did find a route that was going to fit time-time-wise for them.
Nothing makes my heart sing like hearing two non-profits working together. It makes our
community so much stronger. That's cool. It's been great. We have, let's see, ODC and Wisconsin
Rapids and Marshfield are delivering Merrill. And then up in Tomahawk it's a different name of a
group but a similar situation. And something that they get at the IDRC and the ODC and really
all of our non-profits. This is a way of nourishing your community.
It's a way of nourishing your community and also getting to know people that you might not
necessarily meet and kind of having that intergenerational learning that you get from having
different groups of people coming together. It's really beneficial for all parties.
And this really is a leader-peer opportunity as well.
Yes. Yep. Like I said, it's a real flexible way to volunteer and
get those good feelings you get when you're doing something for someone else and you're not
getting paid to do it necessarily but you're doing it because you want to do it.
Peggy, we've got a couple of minutes left. I wanted to just briefly touch on some of the
programming that's available with the ODC as well. With the IDRC? With the IDRC that I say ODC,
I'm sorry. My initials mixed up, I'm sorry. I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to know
that. I'm really putting out the spot there, really. But there are some great programs available
with our IDRC. Yeah, yeah. So we have some programs that are run on a regular basis and they're
coming up in Wisconsin Rapids. We have a dementia basics program. It runs for an hour on February
20th from 3 to 4 pm. It's a nice overview of learning what dementia is and the different types
and what's normal aging and what might be dementia. We also have one called brain health basics
which is really more learning about different options and choices that you can make in life to
promote a healthy brain. That one will be on February 27th from 3 to 4 pm. We also have a program
called Managing Caregiver Stress. This is a workshop for adults that are providing care for
like a family member or a friend. It's really about how they can take care of themselves during
that process. That one will be held on March 13th from 2 to 3 pm. Then we have our fall prevention
program called Stepping On. This program meets more than one time. That one time it's a seven-week
workshop and it's going to run on Friday's April 5th through May 17th from 9.30 to 11.30
at the YMCA in Wisconsin Rapids and really focuses on all the different ways or things that can
contribute to an older adult falling or anyone falling and how you can learn about ways to avoid
that happening. All really important programs that we appreciate you guys having and we encourage
you to find out more about. We're also going to talk more about advocacy days. Next time we talk to
our ADRC and as we get closer to Alzheimer's Association Advocacy Day which is February 20th and
Disability Advocacy Day March 20th. As we get closer to those we are going to spread attention
and bring attention to those and bring attention to our ADRC CW. Peggy if people have
follow-up questions want to know more about some of what we talked about today. How can they reach you?
They can call our 800 number again. It's 888-486-9545 and they can explain to our support staff
what they have a question on and if it's related to volunteering then they'll get transferred to
me otherwise it would go to the appropriate staff person. And keep in mind the website
ADRC-CW.org be sure to follow the ADRC on social media as well it's a great way to keep up on all
the things that they are doing. Peggy we love talk with you thank you so much for the time say hi
to the staff over there you have yourself a great weekend. You too thank you so much. And we'll be
back with more midday magazine coming up right here on WFHR locally grown radio.