We are very excited to be preparing for our Interfaith Mission to Israel, "Building Bridges at Any Age," which will take place in late October to early November.  Cedar Village and Otterbein Homes will be the first to conduct an interfaith mission with older adults.  At this moment, we have seven residents from Cedar Village and five from Otterbein.  We staff on a one-to-one basis with some additional support staff along so, all told, our group will number just around 30!  The two lead clergypersons, Rabbi Gerry Walter and Associate Pastor Barbara Schnecker, have developed an eight session curriculum that introduces each group to the other's faith traditions and culture.  We are meeting, alternately, at Cedar Village and at Otterbein and at each session we are learning, getting to know one another and preparing for our big adventure.  It will be a ten day, action packed mission that will include structured learning and discussion as well as a diverse set of shared experiences.  We can't wait!

To help make this mission a reality, we are working hard on raising the necessary funds.  We will, as on our previous missions, assist residents who do not have financial resources as well as cover the cost of staffing so we have a fair amount of funding to secure!  There are a number of efforts underway and we would love your help if you'd like to support this worthwhile endeavor.  You can make a donation through our website, www.cedarvillage.org or by getting in touch with Sally Korkin, skorkin@cedarvillage.org.  You can also help in non-monetary ways by bringing in items for Donations2Dollars.  Through this unique program, your household or personal items can generate dollars for Cedar Village.  It is a great way for you to use unwanted items for the benefit of a worthy cause.  You may drop items off at Cedar Village and we will take it from there.  You even receive a tax receipt so your gift is deductible!

This past weekend several of us were at the Partners in Senior Life conference held in Hartford, Connecticut.  Partners, formerly AJHSA, is a group that represents Auxiliary and volunteer organizations from some of the Jewish long care and retirement communities in the United States and Canada.  It is always interesting to visit another organization, to learn about what others are doing and to meet folks from other places.  But the highlight this year-and it was a big highlight!-was the presentation of the Woman of Valor award that is dedicated to Cedar Village volunteers Pearl and Freda Schwartz.  The award was created several years ago and is presented annually to a volunteer who exemplifies service, leadership and selfless dedication.  This year's award recipient was our very own Leigh Faulk, president of the Friends of Cedar Village.  Leigh is not only a leader with the Friends, she is also an incredible volunteer.  She organizes large scale events and outings and also works with individual residents on a one-on-one basis.  She goes above and beyond every day, doing special things for our residents, jumping in wherever she is needed.  Leigh was totally surprised by this award-but no one else was because we all know, and salute, what an exceptional volunteer she is and what great gifts she brings to all of us at Cedar Village. Congratulations Leigh!

On Thursday we had a fun, new event at Cedar Village.  We hosted a Parade of Homes to help folks learn about life in our Cedar Village apartments.  We had a wonderful crowd and ten of our residents were kind enough to open their doors and show off their lovely homes.  We even furnished a brand new model apartment to help people get an idea of what it might be like to live here.  If you missed the Parade of Homes, it is not too late!  We'd love to show you around any time and tell you more about Cedar Village.  Call 754-3100 or email Rita Postolski, rpostolski@cedarvillage.org.

All the best,  

carol@cedarvillage.org