Mom used to tell me and my siblings  that the reward for doing good deeds would be "stars in our crowns" when we got to heaven.  Let me tell you about some people I know who are collecting a lot of stars in their crowns. 

Volunteer drivers have given elders hundreds or rides to medical appointments, the grocery store, and the beauty shop in the past year.  They have delivered groceries  from Second Harvest, so that people aren't having to choose between having enough to eat or paying for their prescriptions.  Volunteers help with data entry for reporting, serve on the board, and conduct blood pressure clinics.  

Some volunteers have professional knowledge and skills, like our nurse who visits elders to assess their health and set up their medications each week. When she noticed Sophie's  blood pressure was elevated two weeks in a row, she notified Sophie's son and suggested he schedule a doctor's appointment. The son said she had one the next month, but Bonnie told him he needed to make it as soon.  When he took her two days later, the doctor told him there was a good chance she might have had a stroke if she hadn't been seen right away. 

Nikkita Ivanovich Panin said, "In youth the days are short and the years are long; in old age the years are short and days are long." Sometimes the gift of time is all it takes to brighten a long day for  a senior who lives alone.  Last week I accompanied two of our newest volunteers, a high school senior and a community college freshman, to visit Ed, an 87-year-old widower who doesn't get out much during the winter. We brought pie. Ed offered ice cream to go with it, and as we sat down at his table he said,  "I don't usually see anybody on Thursdays, and now it's  like a party."  

The volunteers who offer something to the East Side elders we serve don't see themselves as performing heroic deeds, but a ride to the hairdresser, a visit,  having  groceries delivered, or a nurse monitoring your health can be huge for those on the receiving end.  With the help of many dedicated volunteers, our little program with less than full-time staff and an annual budget that's less than the cost of a week in the hospital helps keep our East Side elders safe and healthy, and since we started in 1999,  we've helped save millions in tax dollars by keeping seniors out of nursing homes. 

There will be too many stars to count in the crowns they'll be wearing.