Hollister
– Longtime San Benito resident Adeline Bartlett said she’s been
volunteering with the Jovenes de Antaño senior center for almost 10
years, and she doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon.
Hollister – Longtime San Benito resident Adeline Bartlett said she’s been volunteering with the Jovenes de Antaño senior center for almost 10 years, and she doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon.
“I just love it,” Bartlett said.
Pauline Valdivia, the senior center’s executive director, called Bartlett one of her top volunteers.
“She’s always volunteering to help out,” Valdivia said.
In addition to pitching in at special events, Bartlett, who is 74, helps serve lunch every weekday at Jovenes de Antaño. As she waited to go on duty on Tuesday, Bartlett’s suitability for the job was obvious: She’s friendly, energetic and she doesn’t hesitate to touch your arm or call you “honey” when she wants to make a point.
Bartlett said it’s her personal connection with the people she’s serving that keeps her coming back.
“All of them are my friends,” Bartlett said. “I know them all by name.”
Bartlett grew up in San Juan Bautista, and she worked at Mission San Juan Bautista in the 1960s and 1970s. She said she appreciates the chance to help, especially since it keeps her busy in her retirement.
“At our age, it’s good to get out and do something,” she said.
Although Bartlett said she finds the day-to-day work fun and inspiring, Bartlett acknowledged that serving the elderly can be dispiriting as well, especially when one of the senior center’s regulars dies.
“I feel bad, because I just lost one of my friends,” Bartlett said. “She used to sit right over there. … We were just like sisters.”
Valdivia said Jovenes de Antaño serves lunch to between 70 and 75 seniors in its cafeteria every day, as well as another 100 seniors through its “meals on wheels” program. People are asked to donate $2, but it’s not required, Valdivia said.
“No one is ever denied a meal,” she said.
Bartlett rides over from her Hollister home with other seniors on Jovenes de Antaño’s bus every morning. She also gets to enjoy the lunches that she’s serving, albeit after everyone else has eaten.
“I’m a slow eater, too,” Bartlett said.
After lunch, Bartlett joins the other seniors for a game of bingo, and she rides home on the bus at 1:30pm. At home, Bartlett said, she gets bored, so she’s eager to come back the next day.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or
ah*@fr***********.com
.
