2. Winter/Spring 2015
Faith-based, not-for-profit
Winter thankfully, is on its way out, witnessed by the
spring forward time change. I hope everyone had a great
winter and looks forward to spring as much as I do.
The Horticulture Therapy Program, along with
you wonderful volunteers, make this campus
look so beautiful with flowers, plants,
vegetables and herbs in the spring. I
know you all have great pride in the
beauty of this campus.
Mark your calendars for the fast
approaching Volunteer Appreciation
Luncheon. It will be held Wednes-
day, April 22 from 11:00 a.m. –1:30
p.m. The new Ebenezer bus has been
scheduled to do pickups and drop offs
at the buildings. This year our Volunteer
Appreciation Event falls on Earth Day. I hope
you will come and let us honor you.
I wanted to highlight our volunteer hours given this past
year because of the time and generous service you have
provided on the Ebenezer Minneapolis Campus.
In 2014:
• 547 volunteer hours were recorded by 29 individuals
at Loren on Park
• Park Apartments’ 118 volunteers tallied up
3,894 hours of assistance
• 277 volunteers powered the Ebenezer
Care Center with 5,626 hours of extra
special care
• 45 volunteers at theTower Apartments
gave a towering 1,409 hours of assistance
• 27 volunteers planted 368 hours through
the Horticultural Therapy Program
• Campus wide, 33 Interns were learning on
the job for 4,168 hours
• 98 volunteers powered 7,240 hours of Hands &
Hearts Estate Sales
• 514 hours were provided by 28 volunteers campus
wide through the Life Long Learning program
• 668 people volunteered a whopping 24,074.77 hours
for our Minneapolis Campus in 2014
You are the cornerstone of our success in serving seniors
and without you we could not do the extraordinary work
we are doing.
From The Director of Volunteer Services Office ~ Laura Rogers Arne, M.A. April 2015
Mark your calendars!
Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon
Wed.,April 22nd
from 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Look for your invitation in the mail!
more events on back
Hands & Hearts Estate Sales Volunteers Needed!
Upcoming Sales: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
• March 27, 28~ Minnetonka
• April 10, 11 ~ St. Louis Park
• April 17, 18 ~South Minneapolis
• April 24, 25 ~ Golden Valley
Volunteers are always needed to help
this worthwhile program continue
its mission. Please contact Ebenezer
Volunteer Services at 612-872-8515
if you are interested in helping!
www.EstateSales.net
This past December, volunteers from
Thomson Reuters helped spread cheer at the
2 South Care Center holiday party.
3. Winter/Spring 2015
Ebenezer’s Horticultural
Therapy Program
Our Horticultural Therapy Program
needs weekly volunteer program
assistants for each of our Garden
Clubs. Must be mature, reliable and
enjoy socializing and forming quality
relationships. We need volunteers
for the Green Thumb Group,
which works with our memory care
unit residents on Tuesdays, from
1:30 – 3:00 p.m. We need weekly
volunteers to work with the Care
Center Garden Club on Wednesdays
9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Life-Long Learning Program
Get your hands dirty by volunteering
as an assistant in a variety of art classes.
For starters, come help out with our
clay class each Thursday for 8 weeks
beginning April 2nd from 1:00 –
3:00 p.m. at the Park Apartments.
Adult Day Program
Lunch Time Helpers: Come help set
up for lunch: wipe tables, set table,
make coffee, and fill water carafes.
Help us serve lunches, pour juice and
coffee and help clean up after lunch,
load the dishwasher, and clear and
wipe down tables.
Activity Assistant:
Help staff set up and
participate in the
scheduled activities:
examples include
helping score for
bowling, calling bingo,
singing along with
everyone during sing-
a-longs, cheering, etc.
Activity Leader:
Share your experience with residents.
Examples include: presenting a
travelogue of an extraordinary trip;
sharing your hobbies or talents; or
leading a current events discussion.
Ideas are endless!
Escort: Help get participants to
and from the main entrance to the
Day Center. Wheelchair escorts are
also needed when we go out to the
Garden and during special events.
Escorts needed at: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
and 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Dusting assistant:
Weekly dusting in the Care Center.
Cleaning assistant:
We need a volunteer one or two
times per month to disinfect chairs
and other items in Center.
Afternoon snack assistant:
2:00 – 2:45 pm. Prepare, serve, and
help clean up from snack by loading
and starting the dishwasher and
wiping tables.
Gift Shop Cashier
Our Ebenezer Care Center Gift Shop
run by the Friends of Ebenezer needs
volunteers. The proceeds from the gift
shop support the many programs and
services for our seniors on our campus.
If you can volunteer once a week, or
twice a month, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.,
we would love to bring you on. Must
be 18 years old for this position. The
customers include our nursing home
residents, employees and visitors.
Training is provided and satisfied
customers are guaranteed.
Bingo volunteers
Come and make a senior’s day! Help
call bingo on Mondays and Thursdays
at 2:00 p.m. at the Care Center.
Bingo volunteer also needed at Loren on
ParkeveryotherTuesday5:45–8:00p.m.
Truth Point Volunteers
Our Minneapolis Campus needs
mature responsible volunteers to
interview residents and enter data
into a computer through theTruth
Point system. Need high-level
communication skills, customer
service and confidentiality knowledge.
Food Shelf Volunteers
Our Highrise Mobile Food Bank
needs you each 3rd Wednesday of
the month. We meet in the Lounge
at Park Apartments at 1:45 p.m. and
finish by 4:00 p.m. Volunteers are
eligible to receive a food package if
they meet the income guidelines.
Volunteers help unload the food truck,
set up tables, serve food and clean up.
Special training provided.
Volunteer Opportunity Highlights – Come make a difference in the lives of seniors.
Current needs at Ebenezer! Call Laura or Fiona at Volunteer Services to schedule, 612-872-8515
“Volunteering is at the very core
of being human.No one has
made it through life without
someone else’s help.”
-Heather French Henry
4. Winter/Spring 2015
Volunteer Spotlight:Tom Leach
Tom Leach has been at Ebenezer almost 1-1/2
years. Tom’s volunteerism on the Minneapolis
Campus has taken on many forms: He has
brought his dog Abby in for pet visits at the
Care Center, helped serve at birthday parties,
assisted our seniors at Memory Lanes bowl
and helped assist the residents at many of our
shopping outings. A semi-retired business
executive, Tom also volunteers at Eastside
Meals on Wheels. Our hats go off to you
Tom, we appreciate your service to our seniors!
Augsburg College is one of the first out of 40 schools to
implement the concept of Campus Kitchen. Twice per
week these 4-6 student ambassadors help enrich the lives
of our residents at Tower by serving them meals. This
program helps recover campus food that would other-
wise go to waste and helps the community at Ebenezer.
Thursday they serve lunch boxes
with a protein, grain, fruit or
vegetable and sometime they
get a fresh baked treat. Allyson
Green at Augsburg states “This
is a mutually satisfying project
as the residents get a healthy,
delicious meal and we get to
connect with this wonderful
population. When we arrive on
Fridays at 6:00 p.m., we serve and eat a hot dinner with
the Tower residents. We all agree it is the best way to start
a Friday. We believe we get more out of this relationship
than they do.”
The residents say this Friday night dinner is the only
communal meal they get to enjoy each week and they
are not shy about sharing in their gratitude.
The waffles must go on! Despite an electrical power problem,
the fundraising breakfast held March 7th at the 7500 York
Cooperative in Edina earned a tidy profit for programming at
the Ebenezer Care Center.
Our 22 amazing volunteers
contributed 97.5 hours of time
to make this event a success.
A big Thank You to everyone who
attended for your patience and
support of the Care Center.
Waffle Breakfast a Success!
Four of the 22 volunteers who helped make the
Waffle Breakfast a tasty success!
Augsburg Campus Kitchen Volunteers
The Minneapolis Campus
Bus is hitting the town.
Our New Transportation
Coordinator/Driver,
David, is taking residents
on regularly-scheduled
shopping trips and
special outings!
