With an appreciative farewell to the founders and volunteers of ITN Southern Delaware, I am glad to share information about an alternative source of support for seniors and of service opportunities for volunteers.
Village Volunteers, formerly known as Greater Lewes Community Village, is a nonprofit organization serving Lewes, Rehoboth and Milton. Now in its 10th year, Village Volunteers provides transportation to medical and non-medical appointments, runs errands for and with older adults, provides respite for caregivers, offers educational and social programs and events at the Village and our local libraries, and much more. In the last 12 months, Village Volunteers has provided more than 6,100 services to older adults.
Members pay an annual fee. For an individual, it is $500. For the fee, they receive up to 25 hours of service per month. That is approximately $1.67 per hour. There is no lower-cost service for older adults in Sussex County. There is financial assistance for lower-income seniors.
In 2020, the Village partnered with a group of volunteers south of the Indian River Inlet bridge to serve more older adults. South Coastal Village Volunteers now offers services in Bethany Beach, Millville, Ocean View and South Bethany. These two branches are serving older adults in six Sussex County ZIP codes.
For more information, contact the group in your area.
Village Volunteers - 302-703-2568 or villagevolunteer.org. South Coastal Village - 302-500-1281 or southcoastalvillagevolunteers.org.
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.
