"The Meaning of Life is to Find Your Gift.
The Purpose of Life is to Give it Away"
~ Pablo Picasso
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2021 was another year for the record books. While it certainly will be remembered as the second year of navigating through the challenges of a pandemic, it will also be remembered for some amazing highlights, moments of joy, celebrations and many, many things to be grateful for.
Heading into the Holiday season we are hopeful that we will continue to enjoy moments that feel normal. We certainly celebrate the moments of joy that we can provide for our participants - with each other, with staff, and with their family members. The best moment for us is when we hear participants greet each other in the morning and when a family member or care partner shares with us that they feel like their loved one has been returned to them.
Thank you all for your continued support. Thank you to our participants, families and care partners for their resiliency, trust and for sharing their joy with us. Thank you to everyone who has shared their gifts with us this year. We wish you all a happy, joyful, and of course healthy, Holiday Season.
From all of us at Circle Center.
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Heading into the Holiday season, as well as embarking upon a New Year, we are putting our own spin on celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas. Join us as we look back on the past year and reflect on 12 Ways we Celebrated Joy as we prepare to ring in the Cheer of a New Year.
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1 45 Years of Connecting! |
While we certainly had to change our original plans to celebrate this milestone anniversary, celebrate we did! Thanks to all of you, our friends, supporters, caregivers, families and volunteers, we pulled off a week long celebration to honor our 45th Anniversary! To cap off the celebrations YOU all helped us raise over $45,000 to honor our legacy of supporting the aging adults and caregivers in our community by allowing us to serve more of those who need us the most.
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As part of our 45th Anniversary Celebrations we unveiled our updated look! Including a new logo, tagline, and mission statement that better reflects who we are and how we serve our community. Our bright new look was a beacon of hope during a dark and challenging time. Huge thanks to our partners at Altria, who worked with us to envision and create our new look that so beautifully represents our organization.
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There is no denying how challenging the Pandemic has made every aspect of our lives. It is never lost on us that our number one goal is keeping our aging adults safe while they are with us here at the Center. So when we were able to partner with our friends at Bremo Pharmacy to set up a series of COVID vaccine clinics for our participants, staff and caregivers, we felt so hopeful and thankful! |
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We appreciate our community partners who have found fun and innovative ways to support us! Our friends from Zeta Phi Beta have continued to bring us monthly goodies, usually holiday themed, including sweet notes of support for our participants. Heritage Green brings us fun bingo prizes every month – no wonder BINGO continues to be one of our favorite activities!
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Finding new ways to bring art projects to life has been easier thanks to our partner, Art on Wheels. They provide monthly art projects – including supplies and detailed instructions - and the results are not only beautiful but remind us how art is such a powerful way to engage our participants and stimulate their creative side. From the Heart has provided us with lovingly hand-sewn items, including blankets, masks, and clothes protectors, that are always in high demand in our program.
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Our volunteers are amazing - we couldn’t do what we do without them! And while we've had to heavily modify our volunteer program it hasn't stopped them from finding ways to engage with our participants! We have volunteer groups, like the Master Gardeners who come regularly to not only present interesting and thought provoking presentations, but also do activities and arts and crafts that let everyone have fun and even get their hands in the dirt! Community Volunteers make a huge impact and that is true for our longtime supporters at Genworth, who have gotten creative with their activities. They have hosted festive parties with games and dress-up days that offer opportunities for our participants to socialize and interact (safely, of course). They have also helped us with projects around our Center, painting, clean-up and providing beautiful bird houses and garden items for our sun porches.
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Our individual volunteers bring their spirit, energy and generosity with them every time they show up. While we’ve had to completely adapt our volunteer program we were able to welcome back some of our long time regular volunteers who are absolutely essential to our every day! Martha is a true gem, rolling up her sleeves and helping out anywhere (and everywhere) we need her, with grace and joy. Eric, with his trademark patience and the smile we know is hiding under his mask shares his gentle kindness while he spends quality one-on-one time with our participants. Rachel has brought back the ever favorite weekly Dear Abby conversations, and her ability to connect with our participants and engage them in lively and stimulating discussions is truly something special...and the hottest ticket in town!
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Of course we continue to be amazed by our small but mighty crew. Team Circle Center has managed to navigate each twist and turn of the pandemic with grace, spirit and their signature can do attitude. They bring joy to work each day and brighten the lives of the participants and families that we serve. So much so, that our December bulletin board, lovingly envisioned and designed by our fearless CEO, announced "You Are The Gift" with each staff person represented to highlight their many and daily contributions to making Circle Center the amazing place that it is.
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While it has been difficult to have to keep our doors closed to visitors and guests, we found a way to bring the magic of Circle Center to the screen. Thank you to Dominion Vistas, who worked with us to create a 45th Anniversary video that helped us share our story, as well as a virtual tour that helps us provide a look inside what makes Circle Center so special.
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GivingTuesday gave us an opportunity to celebrate generosity. GivingTuesday acknowledges that we all have gifts to give and that every act of generosity counts. We certainly believe that we all have gifts to give as we are witness to the many gifts that our participants, staff and volunteers share with us every day. We were thrilled to highlight these gifts, and of course the top answers didn't come as any surprise:
"Compassion" "Caring" "Love"
YOU also shared your gift of support with us and helped us to raise OVER $12,000 to support our ability to provide the Gift of Circle Center to those who need us the most!
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11 Participants and Care Partners
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When we talk about our person centered care and our full circle approach to care - we are talking about you. How our participants and care partners are truly partnering with us every day to do the incredibly special work that we do. You have continued to put your trust in us, especially during these challenging times, and your resiliency and support allows us to do what we do. We are honored to be a part of your lives and grateful to you for sharing your loved ones with us every day. Thank you for letting us be a part of so many moments of joy.
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You. You have all brought us joy this year. Whether with your contributions to our wish-list that supports our every day essentials in the program as we continue to make health and safety our priority with individual program supplies or through your continued financial support that allows us to serve our participants, families and caregivers, especially through these turbulent times. Your support and generosity brings us joy everyday as you recognize the essential service that we provide to our community, and beyond.
We couldn't do any of this without YOU.
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The extension of the Cares Act makes it even easier to give with special tax benefits:
- Higher Deductions for cash gifts.
- Tax benefit without itemization.
- Bigger impact with your IRA.
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The Circle Center Scene:
A Year in Review
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