SCVNews.com | Opinion/Commentary: Bella Vida Warriors Step Up | Commentary by Kevin MacDonald

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Bella Vida Warriors Step Up | Commentary by Kevin MacDonald

Kevin MacDonald | Sunday, May 10, 2020

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The SCV Senior Center at Bella Vida continues to respond in service to the seniors of the Santa Clarita Valley during this COVID-19 crisis. We closed our doors on March 16 for activities and gatherings and immediately redirected our focus to meeting the nutrition and counseling needs of our senior community.

The added responsibility during this crisis is that seniors are a very vulnerable population to the virus. Our No. 1 goal was to find innovative and creative ways to serve seniors safely and meet their needs.

Our first step was to create the “Bella Vida Drive Thru” Service. We could not gather in the Grand Ballroom any longer but wanted to continue to serve the hundreds of seniors who showed up every day. We immediately started the Drive Thru service without missing a lunch. It is now serving over 300 people every day with fresh meals. We offer this service daily from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for seniors (age 60 and above). Please call for registration information.

The next nutrition challenge was to expand our home-delivered meal service. We asked our staff and volunteers to step up and help us deliver more meals than ever before in a very short time. We went from one shift delivering 350 meals, and added a second shift which delivers more than 250 additional meals. The same little white cars that you see in the community are now on double shifts.

In addition to our nutrition services, we have a full team of “care managers” who provide counseling and support services to seniors. All of these services are free, and seniors are encouraged to call us for assistance and support during this time.

It is an amazing process to see staff and volunteers respond to the need to change focus and direction overnight. We are indebted to the volunteers and staff whom we affectionally call “Bella Vida Warriors” – a team of people dedicated to service regardless of the environmental circumstances. They cook, package, drive, counsel, support the Drive Thru and so much more.

The SCV Senior Center continues to fight to be there when called upon by the community. We need financial support to continue these services for the months ahead and look to the community who built Bella Vida to respond again. Please donate on our website at www.scv-seniorcenter.org. We can be reached at 661 -259-9444.

Kevin MacDonald is CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Committee on Aging (SCV Senior Center). His commentary originally appeared in the May 2020 edition of Santa Clarita Magazine.

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3 Comments

judy Penman says:

Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at

great article, thank you to all the volunteers and staff of the Senior Center. YOU all continue to be committed to our fabulous seniors. Thank you wish I was there to help you all
air hugs
Judy

Reply
Billie Curry says:

Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at

Keep up the great work “Bella Vida Warriors”. The drive thru lunch program has been a 100% success and I can’t wait until the 2nd grand opening of the SCV Senior Center.

Thanks Kevin M.,
Billie Curry

Reply
Susan Shear says:

Thursday, May 14, 2020 at

Dear Kevin and all your helpers,
Alan and I want to thank all of you that hand out our lunches Monday – Friday. You are the highlight of our days.
It is very organized and all the precautions are used to guarantee our safety. We appreciate all that Bella Vida is
doing to meet the needs of the Senior population.
?????????

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