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Recipients of Service to
Older Adults Awards Announced
By Jenna Gaillard
Article Launched: 11/05/2008
 The
Westport Commission for Senior Services' annual Service to Older Adults
Awards Ceremony was held Oct. 17 at the Westport Center for Senior
Activities and honored Westport residents Bruce Allen and Barbara Culp
for their contributions to the community.
The Service to Older Adults Awards honors Westport residents and
organizations who are dedicated to helping improve the quality of life
for older adults in the community. First Selectman Gordon F. Joseloff
presented the award to each recipient.
Culp is the volunteer coordinator of the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer
Program) Medical Transportation Program that was created last June and
provides older adults in the Fairfield County area with rides to doctor
and medical appointments. The RSVP program is a collaborative effort
between the Westport-Weston United Way, which provided office space and
telephones to the program so drivers could be dispatched to several
places, and the Westport and Weston Departments of Human Services.
Culp has arranged rides for older adults with volunteer drivers and
sometimes she drives individuals to their appointments herself. Culp
received the Service to Older Adults Award for her participation in
RSVP.
"I'm very honored and just very proud to be nominated," Culp told the
Westport News in response to receiving the award.
Allen is chairman of the Y's Men community service. He received the
award for his recruitment of Y's Men members as volunteer drivers for
the RSVP program.
During the awards ceremony, Allen told the audience that the RSVP
program wouldn't be around if it weren't for the volunteers.
"The award is really for the men of the club, they do the work, they
show up," Allen told the Westport News. Allen said Y's Men
volunteers provide several services to Westport and Weston residents.
"I'm a facilitator, people come to us," Allen said. "I find out about
needs and recruit people to help." Culp and Allen were honored for
their efforts to keep the RSVP program up and running.
"They got so many volunteers for the program," said Terry Giegengack,
assistant director for client services of the Westport Department of
Human Services. "Its been a real gift having them both."
The RSVP program was originally part of the American Red Cross but the
organization decided to discontinue the program. According to Allen,
representatives of the Red Cross told him and others that the RSVP
program "was no longer needed," which he said was crushing.
"A lot of us were very disturbed by this," Allen said. RSVP
recruits volunteers ages 55 and older to participate in programs that
are helpful to members of the community. Culp told the audience at the
ceremony that when the program has grown from 33 clients to 155.
Culp was a volunteer driver and dispatcher for the American Red Cross
for more than 10 years, a volunteer teacher's aid for Westport special
education and a volunteer in the admitting office at Norwalk Hospital.
"It's just a part of me," Culp said. "I seem to enjoy helping others."
Allen, along with the Department of Human Services, organizes and
delivers holiday gifts and food to Westport residents. He has also
been a volunteer driver for the Westport home-delivered meals program
since 2000 and he was a volunteer driver for the American Red Cross for
more than 10 years.
"I have a life-long interest in helping others," Allen said. "My faith
tells me to do it and I want to do it. It feels like the right thing to
do. It gives me a sense of satisfaction."
For more information about RSVP and its programs, visit www.
rsvpswct.org |
