“Weeks fly by at LifeCare” is a statement I hear often around the office, and it is so true. After reflecting on all that I have accomplished this week, it’s easy to see why the weeks go by so fast at LifeCare Alliance. Because LifeCare serves 15,000 clients, this leaves everyone in the office without an idle moment, including myself. Each week has surely been eventful at LifeCare, but I found this week to be more momentous, more pivotal, and more distinct for a number of reasons.

Week five consisted of greeting a volunteer group, attending a volunteer fair, attending an elder abuse training, assisting with a food tasting at an adult daycare, helping with the fan distribution, covering a meal route, covering an animeal route, completing the July Carrie’s Café newsletter, preparing a welcome guide for Carrie’s, doing research for Carrie’s, attending a retirement party, and even celebrating a co-worker competing in the Olympic trials. Whew! Because LifeCare offers so many services, I have been able to be involved in a wide array of activities, especially this past week. This has allowed me to network and engage with a numerous amount of people. While all of the activities I completed were important, the most significant were relationships I’ve made and the people I’ve talked with.

Monday morning, I had the opportunity to greet a volunteer group who would be working in the kitchen and in the pantry. I was eager to welcome them and get them excited for their day at LifeCare. While I figured I would greet them and move on with the rest of the day, I found them to have a lasting impact on my week. As I greeted the volunteer group, I found myself engaging with the volunteers who took time out of their busy work schedules to come and serve in the kitchen and in the pantry. I was able to see how passionate they were about LifeCare’s mission. Before they even began their work for the day, the coordinator was planning their next day to come back in the fall. While I thought I would be the one welcoming them and showing them what LifeCare is all about, they began to show me.

I attended a food tasting at an adult daycare on Wednesday, where we were able to give information and promote the services that LifeCare offers. In addition, we brought a meal in which the seniors were able to taste. While we were there I was able to chat with a lady who was wheelchair bound. I heard about her family, her previous work experience, and her insight on life. I feel as if sometimes we get so caught up in the business of everyday life that we forget to stop and take time to just converse and engage with others. I left the tasting on Wednesday with yet another reminder as to why LifeCare does what they do. Yes we were there to offer information and a meal, however, we were also there to provide a smiling face, a listening ear, and someone to talk to — proving again that LifeCare is way more than just a meal.

Friday afternoon, LifeCare held a party for Cathy Phillips, who retired from LifeCare Alliance as the Director of the Columbus Cancer Clinic. She served with the Columbus Cancer Clinic for 32 years, and has had a lasting impact on the program, the staff at LifeCare, and more importantly on the clients that the clinic serves. I was inspired as I saw the staff at LifeCare gather to honor Cathy, as well as hear words of how she has touched them both in their professional and personal lives.  Her passion, enthusiasm, and eagerness to help those who are possibly experiencing the hardest time in their lives, was visible from the first day I met Cathy a few weeks ago. Imagining all those lives in which Cathy made a difference is inspiring in and of itself. Working at LifeCare, it is easy to be encouraged and motivated to do the best work you can because you are surrounded by such dedicated groups of individuals. Cathy is a living example of how engagement with all people can not only create meaning in your own life, but give meaning to others lives as well.

A classroom may teach you how a non-profit is run, about accountability and financial management, but the greatest impact on me this summer so far is not only applying what I’ve learned from the classroom, but the relationships I have built, those I work with, and the clients LifeCare serves.

Click here to see the Carrie’s Cafe newsletter. Check out the fun events coming up in July, and stop by for a delicious lunch! We are open to the public!

Below is a photo of some of the fans that we received this past week. While it may look like a lot, this is only about half of the amount of fans that we usually give away at one distribution! After working a fan distribution, I have been able to see just how thankful and happy the people are to receive a fan, and how essential they are to people’s health.

Some of the LifeCare family ready for the Fourth of July. I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend! Until next week!