More than Halfway There

Holiday is off to a flying start on its way to meeting a major volunteerism goal through Holiday to 100K. Launched May 1, the program encourages Holiday residents to volunteer in their local areas a combined 100,000 hours in four months. Just two months in, more than 70 percent of the goal has been met!

The May total of 30,136 hours was logged by 121 communities. In June, participation increased to 139 communities, and hours jumped by 40,134 hours.

At Rivers Edge, Mr. Dale Payne remains active performing nightly security building checks, helping with activities and making unique bracelets for residents, staff and individuals around the world. So far, Mr. Payne has made more than 700 handcrafted pieces of jewelry. In the beginning, he noticed it helped with his arthritis but now he enjoys giving his creations away as gifts. 

Dr. Sara Kyle, Holiday’s director of Resident Experience, said she set the program goal as high as she could envision and wasn’t sure how easily it could be achieved.

“I am beyond amazed!” said Dr. Sara, reminding communities that this is a grassroots, manual tracking process that residents are performing on their own. They record their efforts and hours on individual log sheets and submit them at month’s end to each community’s resident experience coordinator, who in turn reports them to Support Center.

“Please continue to support the RECs as they encourage residents to give back and share their talents,” she added. “Help us show the industry that the residents of Holiday are finding the secret to discovering their individual purpose in a retirement community!”

Holiday Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Bill Thomas also is big believer in Holiday to 100K. Here’s his message to residents on the importance of volunteering.