Helen's Letter
November 2025
Dear Families and Friends of Respite Volunteers,
November is National Family Caregiver Month, so this is a great time to really consider if you know families caring for a loved one, who may not realize our nonprofit may be of real help. And we always need to keep a balance, maybe you would like to give back, or pay forward volunteering, to help a family providing care right now. Give our office a call to set up a volunteer training at a mutually convenient time, or just stop by M-F 9-3 to talk and get to know us.
Giving Tuesday is also right around the corner. Giving Tuesday is always the Tues. after Thanksgiving. We are part of Raise Up Shiawassee, which is the local year-round Giving Tuesday initiative. Donations can be given anytime in Nov. & Dec. to Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee.
There are multiple ways that you can help sustain our program so that we may continue to serve persons and caregiving families asking for our help. Can you also arrange to display our info at your church, business, or place of employment?
Please contact our office if you are considering volunteering with Respite Volunteers. We are hoping for persons to consider being matched with someone and visiting & helping weekly, or perhaps you would like to try out being a substitute volunteer first. Other volunteer opportunities are helping in the office, posting flyers on bulletin boards & at stores, and helping at information booths.
Donations can be made to our program at any time, and we hope that persons and families receiving our services will consider giving back in some way in the future. Since we have been providing services for 32 years now, we are often pleasantly surprised that a young person, young family, new volunteer, or business owner has decided to help by either volunteering with Respite Volunteers, or donating already had a connection to our program, which might be a grandmother was our volunteer, or their family was blessed with a wonderful Respite Volunteer at a critical point
in caring for a loved one. Please call our office if you would like to learn about all the different volunteer opportunities we can provide.
Please come gift shopping at our office any time of year; we have lots of unique gifts, many of which are handmade by both our volunteers and even by the families that we are serving too.
In-kind donations: We are very grateful to Diane Calder, who recently donated the cost of cleaning our carpets by Thompson Floors. Michelle Howe-Gietzen often donates in unique ways; this year, she is donating toward mileage expenses for staff members. If you would like to direct your donation in a special way, notify our staff. We are also the beneficiaries of walkers & canes to loan out to anyone who needs them. A frequent donor to this outreach is Legacy Estate Sales. Maybe there is a way you could honor a loved one, a dear friend, or a Respite Volunteer and help Respite Volunteers at the same time.
We always need help clearing the roof valleys, gutters & downspouts, sweeping the ramp, deck, driveway & sidewalks & clearing snow too. We thank DayStarr Communications staff, Kelli Weidermayer-Morse, Amy Flum-Street, Steve Street, Kathleen Haak, Mary Adams, Cheryl Korf, Julie Petty for all their work on our lawn & garden this past year!
We were just notified that our local Meijer employees voted to donate $5,000 to Respite Volunteers. Thank you very much. If you shop there, please help us express our thanks to their employees.
The Kroger Community Rewards program continues, and signing up needs to be done online. Call our office if you would like more info. If you are not yet receiving our newsletter and would like to, please give our office a call.
The Memorial Healthcare Craft Show is earlier this year; it is Fri. Nov. 21st from 7 am -3 pm. We expect our Craft Booth to be in our usual spot in the lobby of the Auditorium. We are asking for volunteers to help in 2-hour blocks of time. We already have a wealth of handmade crafts, so we are only seeking donations of Christmas crafts for that event. Again, please remember to shop at our office throughout the year for unique gifts.
We thank everyone who donated toward, helped us prepare for, and helped at our Fall Purse Party Bingo. Our Spring Purse Party Bingo is Thurs. May 14th & we are seeking two $500 Sponsorships for the event. The sooner we have sponsors, the Sooner & better publicity the person or business will receive! Gently loved purses and wallets that are donated are sold at New and Old Unique Treasures on M-21, west of Delany Rd, Owosso, for Respite Volunteers all year long. The store posts their hours on their facebook page. 100 % of the proceeds are given to Respite Volunteers.
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Thank you so much for helping our program continue to serve others.
Helen Rathbun RN, Executive Director
WISH LIST
More people to try out Respite Volunteering
Sponsor a Respite Volunteer Family $550
Annual membership
Britta Water Pitcher filter
Help Clean our Office
Mailing labels 30 on a page, #8160, Avery, if possible
Postage stamps
Persons to apply for the Kroger Customer Rewards for Respite Volunteers
#10 Plain White Envelopes
Paper Products for Bathroom-paper towel & tp
Retail Gift Cards to Purchase Office Supplies and Building Maintenance Supplies;
Gift Cards or Gift Certificates from Gilbert’s, Meijer, Thompson’s Floors
for office supplies & services