Intergenerational Gardening Club brings generations together
At the Barbara Bush Library Intergenerational Gardening Club, everyone from toddlers to senior citizens plan, plant, care for, and harvest the library courtyard garden.
The idea for the intergenerational component came from another group that the library's children’s assistant Shawn Howes runs called The Knowledge Exchange where people from 10 years old to 92 knit together.
“I wanted people in a neutral environment getting to learn from each other and about each other, and thought it would work well with gardening, too,” Howes explained.
Kevin Koloian, The Observer, August 31
UW Law School students kick off first year with community service
The 260 students starting at the University of Wisconsin Law School this fall arrive on campus expecting to be immersed in lectures or hefty reading assignments. But one of their first items will be a community outreach day, meeting with senior citizens to do a variety of intergenerational activities, including discussions about current events, garden tours, and talking about their life experiences.
In the past, incoming classes of law students have done a typical community service project but this year, school administrators thought it would be more beneficial to engage the students in the community from the beginning of their law school careers and promote intergenerational learning, says Kimberly Frank, student services coordinator at the law school.
"Our students should be volunteering and helping the community, because it helps with their professional development," Frank says. "What better way than to hear from those people who have such great life stories and likely have had some sort of interaction with a lawyer in the past?"
Stacy Forster, University of Wisconsin-Madison, August 24
Old and young create garden for the needy
Residents at a seniors' home and summer camp children created a vegetable garden this year and were happy to know that everything grown in it will go to the POTS (Part Of The Solution) soup kitchen in the Bronx, which feeds the hungry.
A large poster board showed photographs of the garden’s creation, from designing layout to preparing soil, weeding, watering, and finally, the planting.
Both seniors and kids loved the experience with one camper saying, “It’s been so great planting this garden, playing games and having fun,” and one senior reading a special poem the seniors created, with one line reading, “Oh, what a beautiful garden, with all sorts of veggies and flowers. It hasn’t been an easy project; it takes hours and hours and hours.”
Daniel Roberts, Bronx Times, August 19
Mosaic project on busy corner bridges generations
Rebecca Quattrone, a local artist in York, Pennsylvania, is working with volunteers to share a message about life, longevity and wisdom. The project is a 6-foot-by-12-foot mosaic on a brick wall, and will depict an older adult handing an apple to a child, symbolizing the intergenerational transfer of wisdom.
Quattrone welcomes volunteers of all ages to participate in its creation and says the mosaic has already brought together people of all ages. The youngest volunteer was just five years old and the oldest in her 70s.
"It's a passionate activity," Quattrone said. "Little pieces that seem to be broken can become a beautiful whole."BR>
Emily Opilo, York Daily Record, August 17
Teens, seniors seek to bridge the generation gap at picnic - that proved no picnic
The plan for the inaugural Youth and Seniors Picnic in the Park was for youth and seniors in the South Asian community to have a picnic, get to know each other, and bridge the growing gap between young and old. Turns out both groups had a lot to learn from each other.
Seniors learned youth were more interested in games than food, youth learned that Facebook and e-marketing weren't appropriate ways to invite seniors to the picnic and that a more personal touch was required. Youth found that seniors were very good grocery shoppers, and seniors learned from youth about healthier choices for desserts.
The picnic is one of several intergenerational activities planned for this year. Organizers hope ongoing dialogue between young and old will increase community responsibility and belonging, encourage healthy attitudes toward aging and link culture and language as well as address troubling issues like domestic violence and dysfunctional behaviour in the South Asian community.
Kim Zarzour, SouthAsianFocus.com, August 12
This is the village it takes
A Rantoul, Illinois, neighborhood is home to Hope Meadows, a community bringing together several generations of people from all walks of life for one purpose: building a safe and stable environment for adopted children. Adopted children, their families, and senior citizen volunteers, form a community of support and interdependence.
Families seeking to adopt move to Hope Meadows and are paired with children needing a permanent home. Each family lives free in one of the 15 six-bedroom homes and one parent is employed by Hope Meadows as a “family manager,” earning a stipend and health insurance coverage for the family.
Meanwhile, senior residents at Hope volunteer for six hours each week and receive reduced rent on a neighborhood apartment. Seniors generally feel a sense of continued purpose because of the impact they can have on young lives, and as they grow older, they can rely on community members to look after them.
Currently, 30 adopted kids in 10 families live among almost 50 senior volunteers at Hope, sharing birthdays, activities, work, and struggles.
Patrick Yeagle. Illinois Times, August 5
Library hosts intergenerational program
"In the Good Old Days" is an intergenerational program held at a Marquette, Michigan library, where grandparents share their stories and a bit of history with the next generation. In a recent session with children from toddlers all the way to junior high, the speaker had a distant family member who signed the Declaration of Independence, as well as antique dolls and a scrapbook from World War II.
"We want to keep that part of history alive and let kids know what things used to be like, expose them to some things that they've never seen, and really get them interested in history, actually school," said program coordinator Karen Duquette.
Upper Michigans Source.com, July 28
Torbay's veteran bowlers not so boring after all
The traditional game of lawn bowls has been bringing the generations together in Torbay, UK.
The Torbay Schools Bowls League, brain child of Roger Mann, Torbay Sports Council Chairman, came out of a Safer Communities Torbay iinitiative, which has launched a series of intergenerational projects designed to bridge the gap between the young and old.
Mann says, "Seeing the two generations integrating is really rather wonderful. The way they talk and interact is so positive; you would never know they were generations apart. All parties are clearly benefiting from the scheme with many of the bowls club members happy with the upsurge of youngsters interested in the sport. These young people are a credit to their peers, they have been wonders to work with."
And the students were also positive. As one St Cuthbert Mayne School student says, "I always thought bowls and old people were boring but they are really supportive and help us loads. Old people aren't so bad after all.'
Herald Express, July 21
Funding for Winnipeg Urban Circle's Project Makoonsag family centre
The federal governmet recently announced funding of $200,000 toward Winnipeg's Urban Circle Training Centre, as part of its Urban Aboriginal Strategy program. The funding complements funding from partners including other levels of government and the private sector.
Urban Circle has provided employment counselling and accredited training to approximately 350 urban Aboriginal Winnipeggers annually for more than 20 years. The new funding is specifically targeted for Urban Circle's Project Makoonsag, a family centre for Aboriginal children, youth, Elders and adults, which will offer an intergenerational approach to educational outcomes, life skills, and crime prevention.
News Blaze, July 19
Rossland community garden events using experienced gardeners
Plans for Rossland’s community gardens include educational sessions, garden tours, community events, and drop-in mentoring sessions throughout the summer with handfuls of experienced plant pushers offering advice, tips, and tales on how best to garden in the alpine city.
Rossland received a grant from the Union of B.C. Municipalities to promote intergenerational learning and are working on seniors' events to bring together day care children and seniors.
“We’re basically re-skilling generations that haven’t learned this valuable knowledge. There’s so much talent in the area who have grown their gardens for years, and it’s great to have people like that who are willing to teach,” said Hanne Smith, a Rossland city councillor and Rossland Real Food supporter.
Trevor Kehoe, Trail-Rossland News, July 13
Visions of Life bridge the generation gap
An exhibition of video and photography by Riverside, UK, schoolchildren and sheltered accommodation residents is the result of a projuect to bring young and old people together. The exhibit will be online following the one-day exhibition.
Project participants interviewed each other to find out what makes them tick, leading to a greater understanding of each other.
Community Engagement Officer Carol Reddecliff said: “Intergenerational projects like this challenge stereotypes and foster a real understanding between people of different ages and backgrounds. As well as being fun, initiatives such as Visions of Life can strengthen communities and promote social inclusion, equality and mutual respect.”
24Dash.com, July 15
Fundraising project bridges cultures and ages
Three Minnesota high school students and three seniors in a local seniors' residence staged a bake sale recently to raise money for a non-governmental organization (NGO) in India.
The project was part of an intiative by Lori Terhaar, Marketing and Activities Director for the seniors' home, with a goal to get a group of women from different generations to work together.The six women not only put their talents together, they also bonded throughout the process and remain in touch.
And Anna, one of the seniors, says she got a free trip down memory lane. “It brought back a lot of memories about that age,” she said. “I always welcome something to keep me busy.”
Terhaar plans to do a similar initiative next year.
Meryn Fluker, Prior Lake American, July 12
Intergenerational Book Club Bridges Age Divide
Members of Arlington's Intergenerational Book Club, now in its seventh year, met once a month over the school year to talk about books, but the real discussions often had much more to do with the life lessons the books offered.
The club is a partnership between Arlington High School and the Council on Aging (COA). The books chosen are from a mix of time periods and genres, Bill Murphy, the COA coordinator of volunteer services said.
For most, the benefit was in the discussion. For others it was an opportunity to gain the perspective of someone they might not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. "They find common ground through the books," Murphy said.
Sasha Brown-Worsham, Arlington Patch, June 18
Gardening spans generations
Fresh from the garden tastes so good that the students are asking for seconds of salad.
The Intergenerational Landed Learning Program for Community Sustainability at the Okanagan Science Centre brings volunteer master gardeners and future gardeners together to learn about plants and local food production and to eat what they grow. The project grew out of an initiative eight years ago by Linda Peterat and Jolie Mayer-Smith, two University of British Columbia professors.
Peterat says, ““Many of the children don’t garden at home so this is an opportunity for them to learn about food sources and food systems and what it takes to nurture plants. The volunteers contribute so much to the program and we always share a nutrition lesson and tasting at the end of each day. The children are also learning about communication and social skills, as well as science, language arts — each one keeps a journal — and math. We all enjoy the energy and enthusiasm of the children as they discover gardening.”
Peterat would like to see the program used as a model for other schools which have their own gardens, and in community gardens.
Cara Brady, Vernon Morning Star, June 12
Older people mentor troubled teens in 'granny knows best' project
The UK "Grandmentors" pilot project will see more than 50 older people assigned to young people age 14-19 in London, to help them return to education or find work, improve their career prospects and turn them away from a life of crime.
Lord Freud, the junior minister for welfare reform, who proposed the idea to Community Service Volunteers, says, “I think there is huge, untapped resource of older and retired people who could transform the lives of youngsters, many of whom don’t have someone independent to talk to. I also think there’s huge potential in jumping a generation to help tackle some of the serious problems facing young people in our society. I think it’s much harder to grow up with so many competing pressures, but there are many older people who could provide practical and emotional support.”
The program will take referrals of up to 60 teenagers over the next three years to trained and screening Grandmentors. The scheme will then be independently evaluated by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University,and if deemed successful could be expanded nationwide.
Martin Beckford, Telegraph.co.uk, June 14
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