St. Paul's Senior Homes & Services - Love Uniting Volunteers
Love Uniting Volunteers (LUV) was envisioned in the early 1980s as an auxiliary to support the welfare of seniors at St. Paul’s Senior Homes & Services. LUV members organize several events for St. Paul’s – some are fundraisers, others are events that enhance the social environment for our Residents and Participants.
The main fundraiser is the annual St. Paul’s LUV Gala, which has raised over $1,000,000 since LUV’s founding, to update St. Paul’s facilities and expand our programs!
LUV also sponsors several ice-cream socials at St. Paul's Manor, St. Paul's Villa and St. Paul’s PACE. Staffed with volunteers, the ice cream social has become a much anticipated annual event with music and just about every ice cream topping you can imagine.
LUV sees to it that the holiday season is a memorable one, especially for those Residents that may not have any family or loved ones nearby. A number of LUV members coordinate the collection of gift items and prepare each gift bag for delivery on Christmas Eve for every St. Paul’s Resident and Participant.
Both the ice cream socials and the LUV Holiday gift bags are long-standing and proud traditions that bring together volunteers and the Residents and Participants they enjoy serving.
LUV holds its annual membership drive every Valentine’s Day. The cost of membership is $20 per year for an individual member and $25 per year for a family membership. To learn more about LUV or becoming a member, please contact Joyce Frye, LUV President, at (619) 298-9011.
LUV Holiday Gift Bags – A Tradition Continues
Nearly 500 Holiday Gift bags were given to the seniors throughout St. Paul's communities and programs – that’s a record!
The tradition of the Holiday Gift bags was started over 25 years ago by the founding members of St. Paul's volunteer auxiliary, Love Uniting Volunteers (LUV). Every year members of LUV, and other volunteers from the community, come together to make sure every Resident or Participant has a gift for the holidays. This season was no exception.
In coordination with St. Paul's, members of the Ohr Shalom Synagogue produced a number of gift bags for the seniors in our programs celebrating Hanukkah. On December 9th, children from Ohr Shalom treated the Residents at St. Paul's Manor to a Hanukkah program and delivered their gifts.
“Thank you,” said Villa Resident Sylvia H. “This is really nice. I still have the bag they gave me last year sitting on my dresser.”
Quite a few people contribute to the production of nearly 500 Christmas gift bags. Several donors contribute annually to pay for the gift items. Once amassed, two teams of volunteers donate their time to join one of our two “stuffing parties.” This year, volunteers from Morgan Stanley and LUV members prepared the gift bags just in time for delivery on Christmas Eve.
“It was a pleasure helping Santa fill those gift bags for our beloved friends,” said Janifer Rizzuto of Morgan Stanley. “It is always so fulfilling knowing that in some small way we are helping someone. I’m looking forward to our next adventure.”
In addition to our good friends at Morgan Stanley, St. Paul's thanks the members of LUV, Marie Tuthill, Helen Astleford and Shirley Knox for their generous contributions. If you would like to learn more about joining LUV, or helping out next year, please contact the LUV President, Joyce Frye at (619) 298-9011.
328 Maple St, San Diego, CA 92103 - (619) 239-6900
