Island Senior: Valentines Across Generations

Valentines Made by Spring Street School Students - Elena Porten photo

“Island Senior” is a reg­u­lar col­umn on the San Juan Update writ­ten by Peg­gy Sue McRae.

Islanders receiv­ing deliv­ered meals last Fri­day from our Meals on Wheels pro­gram received an extra mes­sage of Valentine’s Day love from the younger generation.

Two groups of young peo­ple, stu­dents from Fri­day Harbor’s Spring Street Inter­na­tion­al School and mem­bers of YAAS, Young Adult Asso­ci­a­tion of San Juan Island con­tributed valen­tines for Meals on Wheels. YAAS is a social and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice-ori­ent­ed group for young adults with disabilities.

Besides lend­ing their cre­ativ­i­ty to mak­ing Valen­tines for Meals on Wheels recip­i­ents, mem­bers of YAAS Have also been cross­ing the gen­er­a­tional divide to attend the Mullis Center’s pop­u­lar Chair Yoga Zoom class on Tues­days at 1:00 pm and Well­ness Hap­py Hour on Thurs­days at 1 p.m. Well­ness Hap­py Hour is described as “A joy­ful move­ment class to improve your qual­i­ty of life! Get ready to bright­en your mood, shrapen your mind, and light­en your heart.”

Both class­es taught by Kate­ri­na Wen have wel­comed our young friends. If inter­est­ed please con­tact Anna Cof­felt (360–370-7520 or info@mulliscenter.org). The addi­tion of youth­ful ener­gy gives these class­es even more of a bright spot for your day.

Senior Services Specialist Debbie Haagensen adds Valentines to Meals on Wheels - Contributed photo

The oth­er source for Meals on Wheels Valen­tines came from stu­dents of Fri­day Harbor’s Spring Street Inter­na­tion­al School. The Spring Street cam­pus, in order to open school safe­ly this year, has safe­ty pro­to­cols in place includ­ing replac­ing sem­i­nar tables with desks 6 feet apart. Requir­ing more space has includ­ed hold­ing class­es in oth­er­wise cur­rent­ly unused spaces, due to the pan­dem­ic; in the Mullis Center.

If you are a senior or dis­abled adult and find shop­ping for or prepar­ing meals a chal­lenge con­tact San Juan Coun­ty Senior Ser­vices Spe­cial­ist Deb­bie Haa­gensen (360–370-7526 or debbieh@sanjuanco.com) for infor­ma­tion about the Meals on Wheels pro­gram. Meals on Wheels is a dona­tion-based pro­gram; par­tic­i­pants pay what they can afford.

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