Tel Hai Retirement Community celebrated their valued and honored volunteers at their annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet held Tuesday, April 14 at Shady Maple Banquet Facility in East Earl, PA.  During the calendar year, more than 39,000 hours of service were amassed by 375 volunteers, including Tel Hai residents and local community members.

The Volunteeer of the Year award recognized Louise Wenger for her extraordinary efforts in contributing to the betterment of community life at Tel Hai.  Since her volunteering efforts began in 2004, Wenger’s responsibilities have included assisting in the gift shop, working the front desk, special event coordination and resident transportation assistance.

The Volunteer of the Quarter program, which recognizes individuals who offered distinguished service throughout the year, honored Betty Dowd, Dick Sauder, Skip and Judy Emery, Pat Richey, Al and Janice Fagerland, Joy Settles, Bill Rigg, Joyce Rock, Frank Baer, and the Tel Hai Quilters.

The Tel Hai OWLS program, standing for outstanding, warmhearted, limitless and serving, honored 80 standout volunteers.  The newly launched recognition effort honors individuals who have been a registered volunteer with more than 10 years of service and individuals who qualify for the President’s Volunteer Service Award. The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes volunteers who have contributed 250 or more hours per calendar year, or the equivalent of approximately 20 hours per month.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

PHOTO CAPTION: Amy Whary, Director of Volunteering, thanks Tel Hai Retirement Community’s valued volunteers at the Volunteer Appreciation Banquet at Shady Maple Banquet Facility on April 14.

Tel Hai Retirement Community will host Ken Leister of the Bluebird Association of Pennsylvania on Friday, May 8 at 11:00 AM in the community’s chapel at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, Pa.  Admission to this event is free and open to the public.

Leister’s educational lecture will focus on the thrill of attracting and watching bluebirds in your own backyard.  Leister will share his knowledge on bluebird habitats, population patterns, bluebird behavior and how to build a proper bluebird nesting box.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

Tel Hai Retirement Community President & CEO, Joseph J. Swartz, was awarded the Alumni Recognition Award by the Cairn University Alumni Association on Thursday, April 16.

Earning his bachelor of science in social work from Philadelphia College of Bible—now Cairn University— Swartz was honored for his fulfillment of the university’s mission for students to serve Christ in the church, society and the world as biblically minded, well-educated and professionally competent persons of character.

“I feel honored and humbled to receive the award. Cairn helped me prepare for both life and my life work in senior living through their social work program, biblically integrated education and leadership opportunities,” commented Swartz.  “I look back with gratitude for the impact Cairn made in helping me to learn and grown as a person and prepare me for service within society and the church.”

Swartz has a storied career of more than 40 years of experience and service in the senior living industry including executive roles held in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. His broad experience includes directing corporate long-range planning, program and financial management, capital expansion projects and fund development.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

CAPTION: Tel Hai Retirement Community President & CEO Joseph J. Swartz, center, receives the Alumni Recognition Award from Russ Nixon, Senior Vice President of University Advancement (left) and Nate Wambold, Director of Alumni Relations (right) from Cairn University.

Tel Hai Retirement community invites the public to attend a performance by The Garden Spot All-Elementary Jazz Band on Friday, May 1 at 1:30 PM.  Admission to the event is free, open to the public and includes an ice cream treat at the conclusion of the performance.

The Eastern Lancaster County School District’s elementary band will present a music-filled afternoon of old favorites and sing-a-long’s!  More than 50 fifth & sixth graders will delight the crowd.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

Tel Hai Retirement Community collected 425 pounds of canned goods and non-perishable food during March to support the Twin Valley Food Pantry in Morgantown.  Celebrating National Nutrition Month, Tel Hai collected food items contributed by residents, staff and greater community members over a four-week period.

Tel Hai is honored to help families in the Chester County community by joining forces with the Twin Valley Food Pantry, which supplies a food supplement to families in the Twin Valley School District who experience periodic food shortages due to lack of income.

One in six Americans find it difficult to physically and financially access foods and supplies that may nourish their body and keep them healthy.   Food insecurity is a reality for our neighbors in the community in which we live and work.  Hunger is not a short term problem; lack of nutrition can create long term problems from diabetes to heart disease.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

 

Tel Hai Retirement Community invites the public to an educational lecture by Donna Albert— a well-known textile designer from Lancaster County— on Wednesday, April 29 at 1:00 PM in the chapel.    Admission to the event is free and open to the public.

Presenting ‘The Seeds of Inspiration: A Legacy,” Albert’s talk will highlight the inspiration behind her hand-appliquéd quilt ‘Who Can Doubt There is a God?’  The quilt depicts America’s flower gardens and is in the permanent collection of the American Museum of Folk Art in New York City.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

Tel Hai Retirement Community has partnered with Hearts & Hugs of Hope to collect adult pajamas during the month of May! Tel Hai invites the greater community, staff , residents and family members to donate pajamas from May 1 to May 31 in the designated containers throughout the community.

As a local nonprofit organization of nurses and nurse’s aides from Tel Hai, the group’s goal is to help adult cancer patients. The Hearts & Hugs of Hope group includes Jan Creitz, Ethel Brinson, Jenn Schlimme, Ashlee Glauner, Becky and Joe Conger, and Andy and Emily Etman.

The group requests new and clean women’s two-piece pajamas (preferred) and men’s pajama bottoms Hearts & Hugs of Hope distributes pajamas and their Cancer Comfort Bags to local cancer patients in need and to the Lancaster General Health Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute.

For more information and questions about Hearts & Hugs of Hope visit HeartsHugsHope Facebook Page or email: HeartsHugsHope@gmail.com.
Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956. The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

Tel Hai Retirement Community invites the public to a life enrichment lecture entitled “Fragile Freedoms” featuring The Hopewell Furnace National Historic Sites’ Christine Emmert on Friday, May 1 at 7:00 PM in the community’s chapel located off Beaver Dam Road in Honey Brook Township.  Admission to the event is free and open to the public.

Emmert, a local playwright/director and actress with a keen interest in women’s issues, will take attendees on a journey from 1776 to today with the company of Sojourner Truth, Mark Twain, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others.

Emmert holds a Masters in Humanities. Her belief in the arts as the transformer of lives goes deep. The piece she adapted with Katherine Mallon-Day, “The Yellow Wallpaper” was performed to enthusiastic audiences at the Philadelphia Fringe in 2014. Her novel, “The Nun’s Dragon” is presently out on Amazon Kindle.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.

Tel Hai Retirement Community invites community youth— between the ages of 12 and 16— who are looking for meaningful summer volunteer opportunities to consider the Tel Hai.  Applications for the 2015 Summer Youth Volunteer program, which spans from June 22 through August 14, are now available by contacting Amy Whary, Director of Volunteer Services, at 610-273-9333, extension 2010 to receive an application.
All students are asked to complete the application and submit two written references for review on or before May 1.  A personal interview will then be scheduled during the weeks of May 11 through May 22. Final selection for acceptance in the program will be based on the maturity, skills and experience of each applicant.

Volunteer service at Tel Hai provides an excellent learning experience for youth interested in a health care career. Summer volunteer work also offers opportunities for those desiring to perform valuable community service. Work assignments for program participants are offered throughout the campus including the health care center, activities and therapy  departments, business office, grounds, , gift shop, café, chapel and central supply.

Tel Hai Retirement Community, an accredited nonprofit continuing care retirement community, has provided high quality and compassionate care since 1956.  The campus is located at 1200 Tel Hai Circle, Honey Brook, PA., three miles east of Route 10 off Beaver Dam Road. For more information or directions, please visit www.telhai.org.