December 2022

Wishing Everyone A Happy Holiday!

Written by Sue Murray, Newsletter Volunteer

During the holidays, most of us look forward to spending time with our families, eating too much and giving gifts. But for many people, the season only serves to remind them of their loneliness.

For the past 25 years, around 230 members of the community, many with absent families, have received support and holiday gift bags from BCHD and the volunteer team.

This wouldn’t be possible without our donors, volunteers and the community! The bags are filled with essential items, including a hand cream, batteries, pens, calendars, , a card colored and written by local school kids, and this year, a cozy polar fleece throw. The bags make the holidays brighter for BCHD’s community of clients.

It all started back 25 years ago. Every year since, BCHD and its volunteers come together to carefully fill each bag with the gifts, before they and additional volunteers from the fire department, police, healthcare and even Tom Bakaly, CEO of BCHD, deliver the bags to the each client.

For the past eight years, Girl Scouts from Troop 16745 in Hermosa Beach have volunteered to help fill the bags. As Tom Bakaly, CEO of BCHD, said to the girls, “We simply couldn’t do it without you.”

Girl Scout Leader Monique added, “It all started when the mom of one of our girls found out that the holiday gift bag team needed help. Each year, the girls love giving back to the community. When they couldn’t do this during lockdown, they all made cards as they wanted to let the seniors know that they were still thinking of them.”

Each year the BCHD team gathers feedback from the senior community to ensure the gifts are what they want and need. However, every year they make their happiness very clear as one recipient, Bridget, said, “Three handsome men from the Fire Department visited me and they said that they have presents for me. I burst out crying in front of them because it was so touching. I called my family back East and told them how much it meant to me. Thank you very much for thinking of me and doing all the wonderful things in our community".

Tom Bakaly concluded, “Just to see the smiles on the senior clients’ faces makes it all worthwhile.”

Anyone interested in getting involved in 2023, either through a donation or with your time, should contact Melissa Andrizzi-Sobel, Director of Community Services, at Melissa.Andrizzi-Sobel@bchd.org or Purpose & Engagement Coordinator, Alejandra Sierra, at 310-374-3426, ext. 8160 or Alejandra.Sierra@bchd.org. More information is available at www.bchd.org/holidaygiftbags.

Spread Cheer This Year with Holiday Gift Bags

Beach Cities Health District has already kicked off this year’s Holiday Gift Bag project for the 2022 holiday season. Holiday Gift Bags give the community an opportunity to support older adults and adults with disabilities in the community, many of whom are homebound and live in isolation. Although bag delivery is complete, donations are always welcome to pay for supplies. More information is available at www.bchd.org/holidaygiftbags.

Older Adult Program Support Meeting

Thank you to all the volunteers who attended the mandatory Older Adult Program support meetings in November. This informative workshop was presented by the Care Management team and covered the topic of Memory Concerns in Clients. The presentation delved into the differences between normal aging and cognitive concerns. Warning signs reviewed include repeating questions, forgetting names of familiar items without eventual recall, losing items and not being able to re-trace steps, trouble with spatial or visual processing activities like driving, withdrawal from activities, and mood changes. If volunteers suspect their client may have these issues, they were encouraged to share concerns with their Care Manager or, if a gravely dangerous situation, to call 911 first. Stay Tuned – the next meeting will be in May 2023.   

Interested in volunteering (getting back to it or taking the next step to volunteer) with BCHD? See below for what’s currently available and please stay tuned to our newsletters and website as new opportunities arise! Anyone interested is welcome to fill out our Volunteer Application at www.bchd.org/volunteer. If you are or have been a BCHD volunteer or if you have questions, you’re invited to email us at Volunteers@bchd.org.

Campus Greeter – High Need

Volunteers (age 14+) meet all guests who enter the 514 building while also providing general support and customer service duties for the full BCHD campus. Duties include greeting guests and tenants, providing information and referrals to public, walking visitors to/from medical appointments or allcove Beach Cities upon request, maintaining a clean and orderly area and tracking volunteer hours worked. Must be friendly, helpful and able to push wheelchairs and walk around the campus. Weekly 2-3- hour shift required for one year; scheduling available Monday – Saturday. *Expected commitment for High School students is a semester or over the summer.

AdventurePlex Camp Volunteer

AdventurePlex is looking for volunteers (14+) to help kids play their way to good health at our AdventureCamp! Duties include monitoring adventure room, keeping facility area clean and safe, assisting with activities (arts and crafts, classes and rock climbing) and checking in/out guests at front desk. One shift a week required, Monday-Friday, either 9:00am – noon or 12:30pm-3:30pm. Available dates are as follows:

1. January 2 – Friday, January 6

2. January 16

Administrative Office Front Desk Volunteer

Our Admin and Community Services departments are looking for volunteers (18+) to help with telephone coverage; front desk screening of staff and visitors; periodic disinfection of shared spaces; mail and package distribution; badge making; supplies inventory; assembling marketing packets; assisting with Help Desk Ticket tasks and projects. Weekly 4-hour shift commitment on a regular basis is required.  

Conversation Companion: Support Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities

Volunteers (18+) are matched with older adult clients and/or adult clients with disabilities to visit and engage in socialization activities such as life review, watch movies at home or in the theater, play card or board games, take walks, go for lunch, etc. Weekly one-and-a-half hour shift commitment.

Errand Volunteer: Support Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities

Errand Volunteers (18+) are matched with one of our Community Services Care Management clients and do weekly shopping for basic needs like groceries and prescriptions. Weekly one-and-a-half hour  shift commitment for at least 3 months required.

Event Volunteer Opportunities

It is important for Beach Cities Health District to be out in the community sharing our programs and resources with our residents. See below for the community events we’ll be participating in. Share with friends and family and volunteer together! You can sign up for as many events as you would like to volunteer!

Redondo Beach Superbowl 5k/10k Run!

Join BCHD at the Redondo Beach Superbowl 5k/10k. Volunteers will help running the BCHD booth, managing the inflatable and directing kids running in the 5k race. This is a fun way to help families get active!

Date: Saturday, February 11 and Sunday, February 12, 2023

Shift Times:

Feb 11 

9:45am-1:45pm BOOTH

12:45pm-4:45pm BOOTH

Feb 12

6:00am-8:00am Kids Dash 

7:00am-11:00am BOOTH

9:00am-1:00pm BOOTH

For more information and to sign up click the following link

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/90e7419918a74b37b492e595ffb73fd3

The City Of Hermosa Beach Is Looking For Volunteers!

Individuals (15+) interested in volunteering with the City of Hermosa Beach for their local events, please send your contact information to info@hbchamber.net to get on their distribution list. Please be advised that these events are not managed or operated by BCHD and any questions or issues should be communicated directly to the city.

2022 Volunteer Hours

We are so grateful for the commitment of our community to help others. Below is a capture of time reported in 2022. The numbers below indicate groceries shopped for, prescriptions picked up, calls made, Center for Health & Fitness front desks, Free Fitness event volunteers, committees met, administrative support, intern projects, gardens kept, and more. Thank you all!

January 1,041

February 2,033

March 1,105

April 959

May 1,840

June 738

July 2,397

August 1,738

September 2,083

October 1,307

November 1,561

Total: 16,802

Volunteer Anniversaries

Although many of you still are not back to actively volunteering in your usual roles, we are grateful for your commitment. The many collective years of efforts toward a healthy beach community from our volunteer corps is truly incredible.

December Anniversaries

Melinda Turkolu, 20

Patti Mahoney, 12

Colleen Otash, 11

Kathy Herbers, 11

Howard Darvey, 10

Jim Parkman, 7

Julie Henderson, 6

Megan Bowers, 6

Official years of service in BCHD system.