Newsletters

Hello

Hope our recent sunny February days will help you through the next rainy period...in the meantime, you might want to read this month's news from The Mustard Seed Project of Key Peninsula. It's the next best thing to your Valentine chocolates (okay, a bit of hyperbole never hurt anyone)!

Third Thursday Community Forum: This month we feature a presentation on "Family Caregiving 2012: Caring for Families in the Great Recession" by

Bob Riler of Pierce County Community Connections. The interactive discussion will address significant questions such as:

How can you handle caregiving?
What will caregiving look like for you?
Who will care for you?
What needs will you face as a caregiver?
What resources are available in Pierce County?

Join us on Thursday, February 16th, 10 a.m. in the Brones Room of the Key Center Library. Everyone is welcome to attend. Transportation is available (call us at 884-9814). Please help us spread the word at your churches and civic organizations. Post the flyer. Please let me know if you have any difficulty opening the attachment. As always, we hope you will join us and bring a friend.

And please note that Home Health Services for the Key Peninsula, the panel presentation for our January Third Thursday, which was cancelled due to snow, is now re-scheduled for our March 15th Third Thursday program, at 10 a.m. It should prove to be a great companion/follow-up to this month's topic.

Community Volunteer Network: As we begin to look toward Spring, and work at yard clean-up following the Big Snow of 2012, there is a timely volunteer opportunity available on the Key Peninsula. If you're interested in helping seniors with yard and garden work, or would like to become a "Friendly Visitor," please call Arlyce Kretschman (our volunteer Volunteer Coordinator) at 253-884-2216, or come by and pick up a volunteer application packet soon.

Conversely, if you are a senior, and/or know an older adult, who might really enjoy visiting with a good listener or who could use some help with simple yard chores, please pass the word to them that The Mustard Seed Project has some great volunteers available. All of our volunteers have had full background checks and training for their assignments. Our newest recruits are ready and look forward to meeting older friends in our community soon. Again, the number to call is 253-884-2216

(I believe I had an error in that number last month. So sorry!!).

Great February Networking Event: Blend Wine Shop, in beautiful (new) downtown Key Center, will host a networking mixer for Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor businesses and non-profits on Thursday, February 23rd, from 6 - 8 p.m. Come meet other local business people and share your networking strategies. It's a great way to meet your neighbors and a perfect opportunity to promote your local business. For more information, call Blend Wine Shop at (253) 884-9688. Owners Jeff and Dayl Minch have been generously sharing their tip jar with local non-profits, including The Mustard Seed Project. We're very grateful for their thoughtfulness and dedication to the community!

KP Schoolbus Connections: Specific up-to-date route and service information can be obtained at our Key Senior Information Center, located next door to the Key Center Library (phone: 253-884-9814), and on our website: www.themustardseedproject.org. A special option for riders age 60+ is a free door-to-bus-stop van connection, by pre-arrangement. The bus is available on Tuesdays only, when school is in session, so this month that's the 7th, 14th and 28th. All Tuesdays in March are a go, barring weather problems. Give this free option a try!

And speaking of transportation, we continue to hope for just TWO more van-driving volunteers to step forward, to keep our wheels rolling. If you are one, please call Amanda Walston, our Transportation Coordinator, at 253-884-2216. She'll be happy to tell you all about our van program and get you signed up.

Coming Attractions: Our fourth annual Silver Cinema Series, begins Sunday, March 11th, and continues on Sunday the 18th and the 25th. The choices are now finalized, and you'll soon see flyers around the KP. This year's three films are Juliette of the Herbs (shown in honor of Dory Myers), A Man Named Pearl, and Pete Seeger: The Power of Song. Even if you've seen them before, you'll truly enjoy this FREE program of high quality documentary films. We'll watch on "the big screen" while munching on popcorn and raisinettes, and then engage in fun and thoughtful conversations about what we've watched (and whatever else that leads to...). It's a very nice way to connect with your neighbors and stay out of the March weather, while watching good movies about remarkable older folks who defy the stereotypes of aging. Pretty inspirational stuff! More on this next month.

Also in March: The Pierce County Cancer Survivorship Conference will take place on Tuesday, March 13^th. This is a free, all-day event for Pierce County cancer survivors. It's held at the University of Puget Sound and all attendees get free breakfast and lunch. Registration is open and already filling up. We've been asked by the organizing committee to consider running our van to Tacoma, if there are residents of the Key Peninsula who would like to attend this year’s conference. For more information, you can go to their website at www.pccancersurvivorship.org. If we hear from enough interested people, we might be able to provide transportation. Give us a call at 253-884-9814 and let us know if you would really like to attend. We'll go from there.

At this moment, February seems rather calm. May it be so. Too bad that darn groundhog saw his shadow!

Best regards and Happy Valentine's Day!

Edie

Edie Morgan

Executive Director

The Mustard Seed Project:

Building An Elder-Friendly Key Peninsula
253-884-1205