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Home : Publications : Event Coverage

RSVP a huge success this year

A total of 570 volunteers, 394 households on Peninsula and in the South Bay

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Thanking SAMCAR RSVP volunteers Phyllis McArthur and Mark Malardino for washing her windows and planting impatience plants, a Foster City senior wrote:

“It is really a nice thing when people that don’t know you are willing to give of their time and hard work to help out a senior citizen. They did a perfectly wonderful job and deserve a lot of credit from your group. Again thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

While a San Carlos senior, thanking David Weigert, Heidi Moser, Phylis McArthur, wrote:

“They were so patient and really made my home look shining clean. I’m very lucky to have such wonderful helpers. Thank you for the wonderful service you offer for us seniors. I really appreciate the help.”

During the week of May 7-12, 570 Realtors and affiliates on the Peninsula and in the South Bay visited nearly 400 households and helped senior residents and the homebound with household tasks the residents cannot do on their own. In San Mateo County alone, 183 SAMCAR Realtors and affiliates helped 149 seniors.

The week-long activity is part of SAMCAR’s Realtor Service Volunteer Program (RSVP), an annual outreach program in which Realtors and affiliates help seniors and the homebound with household tasks like washing windows, installing smoke detector batteries, flipping mattresses, light vacuuming, dusting, replacing light bulbs, changing furnace filters, trimming bushes and installing house numbers.

Among those helped by Realtors and affiliates were an elderly gentleman who was just recovering from a fall and a bout with pneumonia; an 81-year-old woman who sprained her ankle and had difficulty walking and bending down; and an 84-year-old lady who is hard of hearing and has glaucoma and osteoporosis.

In Pacifica, 32 Realtors and affiliates helped eight seniors. Pacifica resident Lilian Machi warmly greeted SAMCAR RSVP volunteers Sue Vaterlaus, Tara Whitsett and Jose Barba when they arrived at their home, ready to wash window, change light bulbs, replace smoke detector batteries and plant flowers.

“I just think it’s wonderful, the help they are giving me,” exclaimed Machi.

RSVP volunteers Patti Landry, Michelle Pack, Kirsten Jaeb, Cheryl Parra, Bill Griffis and Chelsea Robertson were among the nine volunteers who visited six senior households on the Coastside. They installed smoke detector batteries, strapped a water heater, did some weeding and light cleaning and vacuuming in a home at Moss Beach on Friday.

Some volunteers covered as many as five homes a day. At the end of the week, the volunteers were tired, but pleased with their accomplishments.

“The seniors are so appreciative of the work we do for them,” said Anne Oliva, who co-chairs SAMCAR’s RSVP program with Denise Baker.

“At the end of each day, you feel good that you’ve done something special for somebody else,” said Sue Vaterlaus, who has been an RSVP volunteer since the program began at SAMCAR in 2003.

“This year we were able to significantly increase our number of Realtor and affiliate volunteers, as well as the number of seniors whom we were able to assist,” said Silicon Valley Association of Realtors® RSVP Chair Eileen Giorgi. The program was adopted at SILVAR in 2001. this year, SILVAR had 345 volunteers and 208 senior households.

Giorgi said what made this year’s program even more special was the participation of members of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors® (SCCAOR), whose 42 volunteers assisted 37 seniors living in Santa Clara County.

“It is very rewarding to share conversation and friendship with these seniors and complete basic and necessary household tasks for them,” said Giorgi. “And it is also very satisfying at the end of the RSVP week to know we have made a valuable contribution in giving back to our communities.”

Talks of expanding RSVP further to other AORs in the Bay Area are already in the works.
 


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The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 3,800 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula. SAMCAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in San Mateo County.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

For further information, please contact Julie Ziemelis, Director of Public Affairs, e-mail , or phone (650) 696-8214.

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