Philanthropy

  • How To Volunteer as a Senior

    How To Volunteer as a Senior

    As an older adult, you’re likely to have more time on your hands than you did when you were busy raising a family or advancing your career. To avoid boredom or feelings of declining purpose, it’s wise to look for ways to fill your time with positive things. Many older adults find great fulfillment in……

  • Mercy Brown Bag Director Wins Jefferson Award

    Mercy Brown Bag Director Wins Jefferson Award

    The two words “thank you” are not enough to express the gratitude thousands of East Bay seniors and we at Elder Care Alliance have for the Mercy Brown Bag Program and its director, Krista Lucchesi. Lucchesi and Brown Bag provides more than a million pounds of groceries to low-income older adults across Alameda County. Since……

  • Day of Peace

    Day of Peace

    Today’s International Day of Peace focusses on global solidarity for building a peaceful and sustainable world, but peace begins with each of us. Yesterday a trainer commented, “the world is chaos”. How do you find peace in the chaos of life during this difficult patch of time? I took this picture of a circle of……

  • Philanthropy Day and You. Get Involved!

    Philanthropy Day and You. Get Involved!

    Happy National Philanthropy Day! “It is at times like this that we understand the full measure of the sacredness and impact of the work we do every day.” – Adriene Iverson, President & CEO, Elder Care Alliance On November 15, each year, Americans celebrate the charitable work so many do to make a difference and……

  • Engaging Hearts, Transforming Lives, Erasing Boundaries – Volunteer living ECA’s vision at AVSF

    Engaging Hearts, Transforming Lives, Erasing Boundaries – Volunteer living ECA’s vision at AVSF

    He’s spent over 450 hours at AlmaVia of San Francisco, visiting an average of 20 hours a week for the last six months. No, this isn’t Ricky Chae’s part-time job. He is a volunteer. Not too many 24-year-olds devote so much of their time to working with the elderly. Ricky grew up in Southern California……

  • The Power of Generosity – Impact and Health Benefits

    The Power of Generosity – Impact and Health Benefits

    Did you know that generosity benefits everyone, including the giver? Being generous can improve both your emotional and physical health, according to Michelle Carlino, instructor at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey. Because philanthropy is an integral part of our Elder Care Alliance not-for-profit culture, we’re growing opportunities for giving. An……

  • Helping people afford not only food but medicine too!

    Our heart broke when we heard from this woman who is struggling to pay for all her medicine: “I didn’t expect to be in this place financially but am in the position of affording my medications or groceries. I fell into the Medicare Part D donut hole for the first time, even though my medications,……

  • Cristo Rey De La Salle Partnership

    Jesus and Jayden are joining us from Cristo Rey De La Salle High School this school year.  We are thrilled to have their energy, skills and vision.  Their questions help us see our program from another set of eyes and it makes us stronger.  They come with all kinds of dreams of the future. Therefore,……

  • A Story about Margaret

    This morning, 83 year old Margaret* came to the front desk of the Mercy Retirement and Care Center to sign up for Brown Bag. She sat in a wheelchair as her companion filled out her entrance paperwork and explained to me that she had just recently broken her hip. “I can’t believe this happened to me,” she……

  • What’s New with the Brown Bag Program?

    What’s New with the Brown Bag Program?

    The Mercy Brown Bag Program is going strong this summer, with a new cooler that allows storage of twice as much produce. Filled with a summer bounty — including melons, cucumbers, strawberries, zucchini, pears, apples, oranges, bell peppers, peaches, plums, nectarines, corn on the cob, broccoli, collard greens and hot peppers — along with tofu,……