The Grossmont Healthcare District recently announced recipients of its 2014 Healthcare Heroes. The annual awards are presented to volunteers who help advance the delivery of quality healthcare in San Diego’s East County region. Among the honorees were Glenn Farber of San Carlos, a volunteer for two programs offered to senior citizens by Jewish Family Service (JFS) of San Diego, including the JFS Fix-It Service and JFS Rides & Smiles, as well as Joan and Seymour Zeenkov of La Mesa, dedicated volunteers with Sharp HospiceCare.
For the Fix-It program, Farber travels to seniors’ homes to perform safety-related, minor handyman repairs, such as installing grab bars in showers, building access ramps and handrails for walkers and wheelchairs and rebuilding fences to prevent the dogs from escaping. For a widow in her ‘70s or ‘80s, he understands that climbing a ladder to change a light bulb can be daunting task. Since 2007, he has completed more than 250 jobs in roughly 1500 hours. In 2013, he added an extra 525 miles to his own car for the Fix-It Program.
For Rides & Smiles, Farber drove 1,050 miles last year in his Toyota Tundra providing rides to JFS clients, mostly older ladies needing transportation to medical appointments, a religious service or an appointment with their hair stylist. The occasion also might be an outing to play bridge or a restaurant for a meal with friends. He has logged more than 300 rides since starting with the program in 2010.
Farber also volunteers one day a week on patrol with the San Diego Police Department’s RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol) program. Routine activities can include vacation house checks, patrolling by schools, traffic control at accident scenes, attending crime prevention educational classes and visiting the elderly as part of the YANA (You Are Not Alone) program. He also volunteers for the Burn Institute delivering and installing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. In addition he signs-up with CA State Parks for beach clean-up days.
After he retired in 2002 after a 42-year career in purchasing in the printing industry, Farber decided that any volunteering must involve doing something outdoors since most of his offices never had a window. The 76-year-old is in good physical shape. He stays active hiking Cowles Mountain and back country trails and cycling with friends. On a recent weekend, he rode about 40 miles along the Coast Highway between Del Mar and Oceanside.
Most of the people Farber helps are living on limited incomes needing support from the government. “Volunteering is very fulfilling to me because there are so many people who are barely scraping by and are very appreciative of any small bit of assistance,” Farber said.
The Zeenkovs were part of the beginning and still remain today as one of the most ardent supporters of the Sharp HospiceCare Memory Bear program.
Memory bears are plush, huggable bear dolls created entirely from favorite garments worn by a deceased loved one. It might be a favorite shirt, nightgown, uniform or even a Christmas sweater or faded pair of jeans that a surviving family member will give Joan to create the bear. Then, Joan will cut the garment apart and sew together the little bear, sometimes wearing an accessory, such as a tie or scarp also provided by the family.
At the moment of presentation, when the memory bear is received by the grieving family, it is always an emotional experience. Clutching a memory bear that is made from a loved one’s recognizable clothing can draw a flood of favorable memories. It can also bring comfort and play a key role in the grieving process.
Each bear represents a special story. For example, this past fall, Joan met a mother who had lost her son to suicide. The mother delivered to Joan several of her son’s uniforms. With compassion and understanding, Joan consoled the grieving mother with a listening ear and comforting presence. This particular bear was a rush order and was completed in time for Christmas.
Since April 2002, when the Zeenkovs began volunteering with the memory bear program in honor of a deceased daughter who received care at Sharp HospiceCare, more than 12,000 memory bears have been created by about 200 different sewers. Today, about 25 people are volunteer sewers, mostly East County residents, and Joan is one of the few remaining original sewers. Joan has personally sewn more than 925 bears, representing more than 7,200 hours in volunteer service. The couple, married for 59 years, also have accounted for monetary donations to HospiceCare.
The impact of the HospiceCare’s memory bear program has been felt worldwide. At the beginning of the program, memory bears were made only for children who had lost a parent, grandparent or close relative. However, today, bears are made for husbands, wives and anyone of any age. In the past, bears were made for the families of the Challenger Space Shuttle and 9/11 first responders.
Natives of Philadelphia, the Zeenkovs relocated to San Diego in 1958. Seymour worked as an engineer at General Dynamics and drove from Pacific Beach to Kearny Mesa on a dirt road that is now Balboa Avenue. They remember a time when there were more dairy farm cows than people in Mission Valley. They have resided in their current La Mesa home near Northmont Park since 1959.
Sharp HospiceCare provides comprehensive end-of-life hospice care, including specialized palliative care and compassionate support to patients and their families. Hospice homes are located in La Mesa and Del Cerro. A third home in the South Bay is currently being planned.
Now in its eighth year, GHD’s Healthcare Hero awards program recognizes and rewards volunteer unsung heroes of healthcare whose work might not otherwise be recognized. The 2014 awards were presented at a luncheon on Wednesday, May 14, at Steele Canyon Golf Club in Jamul.
Nomination forms for the 2015 awards will be available in late 2014 at www.grossmonthealthcare.org. Deadline for submission of entries will be in February 2015. GHD is a public agency that supports health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County region.
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