Helping hands needed
Three days a week, Edgartown resident Maureen Gazaille comes through the doors of Windemere with a smile on her face. She helps Windemere's recreation staff transport the residents to in-house activities. There are two recreation staff and more than 70 residents, many of whom go downstairs daily to the Recreation Room for activities.
"People might think that Windemere is a depressing place to be, but it's not," says Ms. Gazaille, whose husband, Dennis, is a commercial fisherman. "There is a lot of laughter and a lot of joy."
Ms. Gazaille first came to Windemere for daily visits with her convalescing friend, Betty. She saw the recreation staff transporting the residents down to the Activity Room and asked if she could help. "While waiting for Betty, it was either drive home and come back again or stay and help," she says. She decided to stay.
"You have more fun in that elevator," Ms. Gazaille says. "The residents are laughing and telling stories and we respond with something humorous right back, which gets them laughing even more... There were some difficult days with Betty's situation, but instead of crying I'd get on the elevator and someone would be laughing and that would make me laugh."
Maureen will soon have to leave her duties at Windemere to work at her seasonal landscaping business, Moses in the Bullrushes, and she's hoping to find someone to take her place. The need is especially great Monday through Friday in the morning from 10 am to 12 noon, or in the early afternoon. There is also a need for help with lunch from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, and dinner, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, as well on one or two Saturdays a month from 1:30 to 3 pm.
To volunteer, call Betsy Burmeister or Mary Holmes, 508-696-6465, ext. 722.
