A fine collaboration

By Nanci Cone

Recently Rotary East of Ventura and CAREGIVERS:Volunteers Assisting the Elderly joined forces to make a difference in someone’s life.  When Rotary’s Craig Miller was approached about creating a new program,he thought it would be a great idea to help people who needed work done on their homes but couldn’t afford it.  Rotary East wanted to partner with a nonprofit group,which is where CAREGIVERS came in.

CAREGIVERS provides services to hundreds of seniors that enable them to remain in their homes.  “Pairing with CAREGIVERS has allowed Rotary to reach the people who need our help most,” said Craig.  “When we decided on whom we were going to help,the response from my Rotary club was fantastic,” he went on to say.

George Harrell of CAREGIVERS suggested the first recipient should be Curt McKenna,a 96-year-old individual from Casitas Springs who is disabled and lives alone.  “Once you meet Curt,you realize what a special individual he is,” comments George.  Executive Director Brad Berens added,“Curt is an amazing individual.  He has such a positive outlook on life and an incredible background.  We were fascinated as he related tales of how he drove out west in his purple Ford touring car with the bright red canvas top.  There wasn’t a person who showed up that wasn’t impressed with him!”

Curt said it all very succinctly.  He said,“People are always telling me that I’ve led a fascinating life.  Heck,I’m still here so I’m still leading a fascinating life!”  Students from Foothill and Ventura High Schools who participate in CAREGIVERS’ Building Bridges program were on hand to brighten up the inside of his house and rid it of any cobwebs that might have been missed due to Mr. McKenna’s macular degeneration.  During that time,Curt regaled everyone by talking about his exploits as well as his 13-year relationship with Barbara,a very colorful individual he met at the Legion Hall.  He commented,“She’s only 70 years old but that was just right because I like my women younger!”

It was an ambitious undertaking with the volunteers from Rotary cleaning away brush,pulling up the weeds and mowing the ¾ acre site to prevent it from becoming a fire hazard.  After five hours of intense work from the Rotary and CAREGIVERS volunteers,Rotarian Husam Hishmeh,owner of several Domino’s Pizza restaurants showed up with a dozen pizzas and drinks for the weary crowd.  The food was great and Curt,who tried the vegetarian pizza,was amazed.  He said,“Gee,I never knew they even made anything like this!”

Everyone really enjoyed meeting Curt who did a great job bridging the generational gap with his fascinating stories from the Depression,World War II through his current day adventures.  He definitely set a great example everyone who came out to help.

For more information about how you can help,visit the CAREGIVERS website at www.vccaregivers.org or to learn more about Rotary East,visit their site at www.rotaryventuraeast.org.