The Cupertino Courier

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Vic Nelson shows off his 1929 Packard-645 Dietrich Roadster at the Cupertino Senior Center's volunteer recognition luncheon.

Senior center says 'thank you'

By Mike de Give

The Cupertino Senior Center recently revved up the appreciation engines for its 140 volunteers, who logged in more than 18,000 hours of service during the past year.

To mark the occasion, the center held a volunteer recognition luncheon and wheeled in seven vintage automobiles to reinforce the theme "Our Volunteers are Classics."

The cars were provided by members of the Classic Car Club of America, and lunch was cooked up by the Cupertino Kiwanis Club.

Combined, volunteers worked the equivalent of 750 days--more than two years--in the span of just 365 days.

"With our volunteer recognition luncheon we don't single out anyone because we feel it's everyone working together that makes a difference," said Diane Snow, recreation supervisor of the senior center.

Volunteers take on a variety of jobs, from answering phones to leading classes to working with case managers to help homebound seniors in the community.

The desk crew--which provides customer service, performs office work and does computer entry, clocked in with more than 4,000 hours of volunteering over the past year. The two-person teams put in an average of four hours a week at the desk, Snow said.

Volunteers also plan events, run the Friday afternoon bingo games and open the center after hours for dances and band rehearsals, among other things.

"This is the one way that staff has to really thank the volunteers," Snow said. "Each year people look forward to how unique and how special it will be."

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