Senior Breakfast Club

Location: Mary Hartwell Catherwood Apartments

Date: Saturday, January 5, 2013; 9:00 am-12:00 pm

I have not cooked at my apartment for a long time…a very long time.  So signing up for a Breakfast Club, where cooking would probably be a part of the job description, was an interesting choice.  But I had heard that the cooking programs are the most fun and so I was excited to attend.  So far I had never been late for any of my volunteering activities.  However, today was one time when I was pushing it.  Plus something happened for the first time since I moved to Chicago – I missed getting off at my train stop.  Thus, at the next stop I got out and ran down the stairs to get a cab.  I got there just 10 minutes late, but the cooking had already begun.  I apologized to Sandy, our Volunteer Leader, but she said that they had just started and I could find an activity which required help.

There was already a person making scrambled eggs whereas someone else was cooking sausages, and a third was baking biscuits.  I was assigned the task of chopping fruits for a salad.  The fruits were from a bag, but we wanted them in bite sized pieces.  After 15 minutes and one bag, my hands were dripping with syrup and I had also managed to create a mess.  But Sandy seemed satisfied with my work and I looked for my next task.  The residents had started arriving and they needed help in serving them orange juice and coffee.  One volunteer had already started on this activity, but I made the rounds asking if they wanted refills.  

Barry's piano

My attention was directed to the back of the room where a gentleman was opening a piano.  I walked up to him and asked if he played.  He said yes, though not as much as he would like owing to arthritis.  He introduced himself as Barry and said he had always been musically oriented and had started playing guitar at the age of fifteen.  When I told him my name, he asked if it was Irish!  I have been called many things, but never Irish.  I laughed out loud and asked if my green eyes gave me away.  He enjoyed that one and then started playing.  I stood there listening for some time, but there was work to be done.  Plus Barry’s music was there in the background.

By now all the residents had arrived and breakfast was ready to be served.  There was an assembly line for plating eggs, sausages, biscuits, potatoes and the fruit cup.  I would pick up the filled plates and serve them at various tables.  Some would request a refill on their coffee or orange juice or seconds.  Our job was to ensure that they got whatever they wanted promptly.  Barry had stopped playing and was having his breakfast as well.  In the meanwhile, another resident had arrived and she owned the room.  She hugged everyone, apparently familiar with them and then when I introduced myself, she said she was Georgia, and gave me a hug as well.  Now that everyone was busy eating I drifted over towards Sandy to chat with her.

Sandy is one of the most enthusiastic people that I have come across.  She has been doing this program for the past seven years and most of her crew (for that's what we were) have known her for a long time.  There was a definite comfort level with which people were operating together as a team, something that only develops over time.  Sandy had baked brownies for the residents and was serving them.  She had also woven some mittens which she was giving out to the volunteers.  What a lady!

After breakfast we were going to be playing Bingo, and Sandy was busy sorting out the gifts that were going to be handed to the winners.  I asked her how much the budget was and she said her total budget for the month was $140, and this hardly covered all the food, utensils and the bingo prizes.  She said that almost every time she puts in lot of her own money into buying the supplies.  Having seen her interact with everyone, I was not surprised she would do that.  As we were chatting, Sandy pointed towards a table and said that all the ‘popular’ folks sat over there and one had to be in the ‘inner circle’ to be invited.  After all these years, it was high school all over again.

Once the breakfast was done, people started clearing the tables, preparing for Bingo.  However, dishes needed to be done and I volunteered to scrub.  Now this was not going to be an easy task, especially with grease in the big serving vessels.  Plus, being on a budget we did not exactly have lot of scrubbers.  I rolled-up my sleeves and got down to it.  It took a lot of time, over half an hour.  The toughest were the sausages and potatoes trays, but by far the worst was the eggs.  Because after I was done scrubbing, I had to clean the sink which was clogged with the leftovers.  I did have help in rinsing, and between the two of us we got it done.

BINGO time

Bingo was in full swing by the time I got back in the main cafeteria.  One thing I have realized is people take their Bingo very seriously.  I started walking around and stopped by to chat with Barry, but even then his one eye was always on the board.  Unlike the boards that we used in Imperial Nursing Home, these had red translucent windows which you could pull out to cover the number being called.  So if you had the number on your board, you would pull out the window.  I saw one lady who had not done it for several windows and I helped her correct that.  In a later game after she won, I realized that she was following the opposite system i.e. initially closing all windows and then opening them if her number was called.  I had inadvertently spoiled her earlier game!  After this I avoided going over to her side of the room. 

Once the prizes were all handed out, the game was over and we started packing up.  I helped stash Bingo supplies in the closet and said goodbye to Barry.  He said it had been nice meeting me and it was a mutual feeling to have met a gentleman such as himself.  One of the elderly ladies was flirting with a young volunteer by asking if he wanted to be her date for a night out on the town that evening.  We all laughed and soon the residents left, not before Georgia had given all of us another hug.  I am constantly amazed by the warmth with which all the people have accepted us in their lives.  Contrast this with some of the other social occasions that I have been to with people near my age, who hardly introduce themselves and even then there is a very guarded approach.  Some evenings after work, my colleagues go for drinks at the local watering hole.  People ask me why I prefer to go volunteering when I could be doing that instead.  Do I really need to answer? 


*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy