On Monday evening, I was joined by my wife Becky, my 14-month-old son Declan, and a team of other Southridge volunteers to host the Southridge Café at Tabor Manor. Here are some surprises that I experienced throughout the evening:

  1. Instead of being greeted with the expected, “Hello,” I was welcomed by an elderly woman who loudly exclaimed, “He’s an ANGEL!”  I quickly realized that she was entranced by my young son, and ended up playing with him during most of the café time.
  2. That the first senior I talked to quickly asked me, “What family member I was there to visit.”  When I told him that we didn’t have family there, but was there to help out with the Southridge Café, he replied in a surprised way, “You mean you came here to spend time with someone like me?”
  3. The game of “Uno” was much more fun than I remembered.
  4. I lost every game of Uno I played.  Significantly.
  5. Three seniors who weren’t into playing games, found just as much enjoyment throughout the event by bouncing a balloon back and forth with my son. 
  6. One woman who was wheeled in during the session was unable to move, which took her out of games, balloon bouncing, and most other activities.  However, when she was wheeled back to her room she said the experience was “AMAZING!” and the nurse let us know that the café is becoming the highlight of her week.
  7. To my surprise, one of the women I played cards with wasn’t confused by the game, and when I somewhat jokingly accused her of cheating, she looked me in the eye, winked, and politely said, “It’s possible.”
  8. Upon leaving, one participant thanked my wife and I repeatedly, and said she would keep us in her prayers until she hopefully saw us next week.
  9. In wheeling someone back to his room after the event, he kept demanding, “Faster!  Faster! Faster!”
  10. We could have easily benefited by another ten volunteers.

The Southridge Café is one of the ways that our church community is reaching out to seniors and widows in the North End of St. Catharines.  It runs from 6:30pm to 8:00pm on Mondays and 2:30pm to 4:00pm on Thursdays.  We offer the residents in both long-term care and supportive housing a chance to be in a healthy, engaging environment by serving refreshment, playing games, and providing lots of time to socialize.  It’s an awesome way to serve, whether it’s on your own, or with friends and family.  The residents LOVE it when people bring their children.

If you’d like to find out more about how you can get involved in the Southridge Café and the other ways we are reaching out to seniors and widows in the North End, come to our Serving Seniors Open House, this Sunday, October 2nd, at our North End Location (Governor Simcoe High School) at 11:30am.  It’s going to be a great event.   Hope to see you there.