New President for Senior Association
Nancy Daniel. Photo: Mary Jane Sturgis
Nancy Daniel is the new president of the Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association. She takes over from Linton Stables, who served for three years. Stables will continue as a board member.
At the first board meeting with Daniel as president, on January 6, she addressed the challenge of keeping seniors connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that many are not comfortable with digital technology. One item of business at the Zoom meeting was brainstorming ways to reach out to people struggling with what Daniel called “digital reticence.”
Association secretary Sheila Bell suggested sending handwritten cards to members who might need support. “It wouldn’t be hard if every now and then each of us took a couple of people to write notes to,” she said.
The association is concerned with people outside its membership as well. Stables reported that, in cooperation with the Nether-Swarthmore TimeBank, association volunteers have delivered over 1,000 pounds of food to local food banks since the beginning of the pandemic. Daniel encourages community members to continue to leave donations in the red wagon outside Swarthmore Borough Hall. Volunteers deliver the items weekly to several food banks in Chester.
Vice president Louise Coffin proposed augmenting a current Swarthmore Friends Meeting program of food donations to the St. Katharine Drexel food pantry. Coffin suggested that the senior association solicit and manage monetary contributions as well. These would fund bulk food purchases from an Upland grocery store, Sam & Sam Meats. The board approved the proposal.
Another project in the works is becoming a hub for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. Daniel reported that SSCA has applied to the Chester County Health Department to assist with Delaware County’s phase 1-B vaccinations of people 75 and over, as soon as plans can be finalized.
Daniel, a flutist, teacher of music and T’ai Chi Chih, and former professional fundraiser who lives in Wallingford, says she hopes to reach out to more senior citizens who might not yet know about the association. She plans to keep an eye on senior housing options in the community and she wants to partner with other community groups.
“Connection is at our core,” she said. “Our mission is to improve quality of life not only for seniors, but for the entire community.”
To learn more about the Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association, or to sign up for their daily e-newsletter, go to swarthmoreseniors.com. You do not have to live in Swarthmore to participate.
