Berks County Individuals and Businesses Focus Their Efforts On
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July 2016 • Vol. 16 • Issue 07 • www.BerksEncore.org For information on advertising in berksencore news please contact 610-374-3195, ext. 227. Inside This Issue... A COMMUNITY OF CARING: Agency Happenings ..... pgs 3~7 Anniversaries ....................pg 23 Berks County Individuals And Businesses Berks Encore Programs ......pg 16 Center News ..............pgs 17, 20 Combat Veteran Remembers ..pg 24 Focus Their Efforts On Older Adults Berks County has many Development Spotlight .....pg 12 heroes: businesses, individuals, Discount Program ............... pg 8 government officials, other insti- Editorial .............................. pg 2 tutions. Often good deeds might Law & Order .............pgs 13~15 go unnoticed by us, whether On-Going Activities .. pgs 18 & 19 they’re donations or lending a Your Community ......pgs 21~34 helping hand. But over the past Your Health ............ pgs 10 & 11 few months, outstanding local businesses and individuals have made Berks County seniors their Fun Day at the Ballpark! .....pg 7 focus. Berks Encore’s annual Community Breakfast and its 2016 honoree, Eric Savage and the Freedom Auto Group, cata- lyzed a chain of giving. At its 16th annual Com- munity Breakfast, Berks Encore honored Eric “Mr. Freedom” Savage and the Freedom Auto Group with the Leadership By Volunteer Spotlight ............pg 9 Example Award. Savage and his dealerships have created the Life Improvement Business model, which means the dealerships do more than just sell cars and make a profit; Freedom Auto’s main mission is to improve the lives of others in a multitude of ways. Savage and his dealerships donate thousands of dollars and Seniors Simple Art Class ...........................pg 25 thousands of hours of volun- teer time to a variety of worthy causes, including Berks Encore. During the Breakfast on June 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel, Savage gave a speech that brought laughter and some tears to the audience—and Savage himself: “Mr. Freedom” detailed continued on page 3 2 From the desk of . LUANN OATMAN EDITORIAL Dear Reader, Have you ever thought agency that values care, compassion, and community as core about the power of a values. simple act of kindness? Thank you, as always, for caring about the older adults of LuAnn Oatman, President At Berks Encore, simple our community. And remember that the act of kindness you acts of kindness keep our perform today has the ability to do more goo d than you may agency running. You probably know those simple acts realize: for the recipient, for yourself, and for the person who well: delivering a meal, checking on an elderly neighbor, observes and takes your example to do more good for others. creating a card or small gift for a homebound senior, making a donation. In our own lives, we have the ability to make Sincerely, an impact on the lives of those we see regularly—or perhaps LuAnn Oatman, President/CEO those strangers we may never see again. Did you know that there is science behind positive benefi ts Grocery Shopping Volunteers of good deeds? Research shows that people who engage in kind acts become happier over time. These acts create URGENTLY NEEDED! emotional warmth that releases a hormone called oxytocin. For many seniors, keeping cupboards full is diffi cult. Seniors Oxytocin is known as a “cardioprotective” hormone that may be homebound or unable to drive and getting to the lowers blood pressure. What’s more, if people start giving and grocery store, walking around the store, or lugging bags of being kind when they’re young, benefi ts like physical health groceries may be diffi cult tasks. and life satisfaction improve greatly over time! Help is available. Berks Encore and Redner’s Warehouse Mar- kets are proud to off er the Grocery Shopping Program: Berks Kindness is contagious. We see this each day at Berks Encore will try to fi nd a volunteer to do a client’s shopping and Encore on a small and large scale. In the past few months, deliver the groceries to his or her home on a regular basis. we’ve been so moved by many acts of kindness towards The need for this program continues to grow and volunteers seniors in our community. In these pages, you’ll see do not currently match the demand. the stories of the ways in which many individuals and We need your help to keep seniors independent. Please call organizations in Berks County are consistently making a 610-374-3195, x208 to sign up to become a grocery shopping difference in the lives of seniors. Taking care of each other volunteer. With just a few hours of time, you can ensure a is the right thing to do. And I’m so grateful to work at an senior’s cupboard stays full. OUR MISSION berksencore news is published monthly by berksencore 40 N. 9th Street, Reading, PA 19601 • Phone 610-374-3195 Chairperson, Board of Directors Carl W. Staples President LuAnn Oatman Editor Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie 2014 Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees Outstanding Media Recognition Award Recipient Printed by the Reading Eagle Company The mission of berksencore is to engage the community berksencore news Advertising Policy: to enable older adults to news • 2016 JULY 1. All ads submitted to berksencore news for publication will be reviewed by staff for suitability. If there is a question concerning the content of any achieve a better quality of life proposed advertisement, berksencore marketing person will contact the advertiser to see if any adjustments can be made. by providing a comprehensive program of services, referrals, 2. berksencore reserves the right to refuse any advertisement deemed inappropriate for berksencore news. encore education and advocacy. 3. The publication of any advertisement in berksencore news does not imply endorsement of that product, service or company/organization supplying their product/service by berksencore. berks A COMMUNITY OF CARING: 3 Berks County Individuals And Businesses Focus Their HAPPENINGS AGENCY Efforts On Older Adults continued from front page Salvage is celebrating 44 years as a Green Recycled Parts facil- ity. Green Recycled Parts reduce the need for new parts to be how his journey creating the Life Improvement Business has manufactured, preserving scarce natural resources and cutting impacted his own life, the lives of his family members, and the down on the resulting pollution. Chuck’s Auto Salvage staff lives of community members around him. He emphasized the presented Berks Encore with a check for $1,080 at this year’s ways in which individuals can change their thinking to become Community Breakfast. conscious of the needs of community members around them, Even simple gestures like sharing a photo on social media especially seniors. We give, says Savage, because we can. can have powerful results for local seniors. Inspired by Eric Savage furthered his point about the need for giving in our Savage’s love for crazy socks, Berks Encore began its “Sock It to community by talking about a familiar old phrase. The adage Hunger” campaign in May: the agency encouraged supporters that “nice guys finish last” is incomplete, he explained, noting to post photos of themselves wearing fun or crazy socks with the that nice guys finish last only in “all the races they choose not hashtags “#sockittohunger” and “#berksencore.” (For those un- to run. We are in the races where true friendship, integrity and familiar with hashtags, they’re a means on various social media caring are the ultimate goals.” For Savage, this is what the Life outlets—like Facebook and Twitter—to “tag” your conversation Improvement Business is all about. as part of a bigger one and track who’s talking about certain top- Savage’s model of friendship, integrity, and caring, extends to ics.) Berks Encore board member and General Manager of the many others in our community. Chuck’s Auto Salvage of Doug- DoubleTree Hotel in Reading, Craig Poole, pledged to donate lassville held its eighth annual Earth Day Celebration on Friday, the cost of a Meals on Wheels meal, $6.08, for each social April 22. Each year, the business invites the community to media post. Berks County has a definite love for crazy socks, bring their waste oil, antifreeze, automotive lead batteries, and and over 175 people posted photos of themselves, garnering 175 tires at no charge for proper disposal. For each battery collected meals for local seniors. The drive inspired other campaigns to during this year’s event, Chuck’s Auto Salvage donated $15 to raise funds in Pennsylvania. Berks Encore and the Meals on Wheels program. Chuck’s Auto The chain of giving continued in the days after Community Breakfast. Inspired by the Sock It To Hunger campaign, local Leaders In The Treatment Of Eye Diseases! nonprofit Blankets of Hope donated 200 fleece blankets to Berks Encore to benefit local seniors. These gestures of compassion and kindness might have gone unnoticed, or perhaps you may not have connected them as pieces of a larger whole. But truly, Berks County is a community that cares—one that gives back not because they are compelled or asked to, but, as Mr. Freedom might say, because they can. Community Breakfast efforts raised over $75,000, a record for Berks Encore. l to r: Mark A. DiPillo, M.D., Jeremy L. Aikey, D.O., Moiz M. Carim, M.D., Michael D. Cefaratti, M.D., Daniel V. Will, M.D., Leah R. Wartluft, M.D. You can keep the chain of giving going and help us keep seniors healthy, happy, and active. You can donate today via our Your Retina, Cataract website, berksencore.org/donate, or by sending in the Oppor- tunities to Give form found on page 4. and Glaucoma Specialists. At Carim Eye & Retina Center, our Doctors have the expertise to diagnose, treat and manage eye disorders and disease.