Senior Friendship Centers Need Volunteers, Too

Caroline Allen oversees a brigade of 1,100 volunteers, and she’s on the prowl for more.
Allen is volunteer coordinator for Senior Friendship Centers in Sarasota, Manatee, Lee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.
“We wouldn’t exist without our volunteers,” she said.
Volunteers are involved in every aspect of the centers. “Last year we served 39,000 meals at noon on site,” she said.
That’s more than 100 per day, 365 days a year. And the center prepared and delivered 67,000 meals to homebound seniors.
All the departments use volunteers. Some are fully staffed, but Allen is looking for help in other areas. “We need dental hygienists, dental assistants and dentists for our clinic,” she said. “It is very difficult to find dentists to volunteer. Doctors seem to want to be doctors, but not dentists.”
The health care

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