DANVILLE – For those keeping track, April is National Volunteers Appreciation Month and May is Older Americans Month. On Saturday, the city of Danville hosted a mash-up called “Lend-A-Hand Day,” pairing people who like to help with people who could really benefit from it.
Every year Lindy Sable has a special treat for its visitors.
“These are Grandma Sable’s cookies. They’re really good,” she said, laughing.
When she met her guests this year, the treats didn’t require a bribe.
Harish Rajpal, his son Niha and Sable’s neighbor Klaus volunteered to plant flowers in the backyard of her Danville home. It’s something the former kindergarten teacher is having a hard time with these days.
“I used to do all those things: teaching and working in the garden. As you can see, it’s a big garden, but no, I’m going to be 78 in a month, so I’m trying to keep going,” Sable said.
Help comes from the Danville Senior Center, which hosts Lend-A-Hand Day every year. Volunteers met in the morning to be assigned to homes of seniors who needed help maintaining their outdoor spaces. A lot of emphasis is on connecting young people with older people.
“You know, yard work can be overwhelming, especially after all the wonderful rain we’ve had,” said program organizer Leah Martinez. “The weeds grow tall, the grass grows thick and these volunteers may be getting their first gardening experience, so it also provides a meaningful volunteer experience.”
Matt Hayward showed up as a volunteer. He has volunteered for cleanups for years and said it is one of his favorite activities, besides taking a nap.
“These are elderly; they have disabilities,” he said. “Maybe they can go out there and do a little weeding, things like that, but it’s much easier for people like us to go out there and help them when we can.”
Back at Sable’s house, 14-year-old Nihal was already an experienced volunteer. Last year he signed himself and his father up for the Lend-A-Hand project.
“I just saw it and signed up for it. It looked cool,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t really have anything else to do, so if you can help someone, you should do it, right?”
His father Harish said it has now become an annual bonding experience for them.
“I think we enjoy doing things together and it’s been great to be here,” he said.
Lindy spent her career teaching very young children to work as a team. She believes volunteering is especially important for this generation, who often don’t seem to have strong connections with other people.
“Yes, we miss that very much,” she said. “Just because everyone is so busy. The kids are programmed that way. They go to school and then they go to sports and so we have to take the time to look around and see what’s needed in our community.”
Saturday was the 20th annual Lend-A-Hand Day. In total, the event attracted 96 volunteers, ranging in age from 12 to 73 years.
There is a saying: the most important thing you can give someone besides your love is your labor. On Lend-A-Hand Day, young and old gave each other a present. Not to mention the cookies.
John Ramos
