Thursday, August 23, 2012
Hiker, naturalist, grandmother, yoga teacher--Edna's got it going on in Athens, Ga.!
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- Katie Huston
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Edna Garst has received the Fred A. Birchmore Award for Active Aging. Garst, 79, has been teaching yoga since 1997 at the Center for Active Living at the Athens Community Council on Aging. Garst has inspired hundreds of people to pursue yoga and an active lifestyle. “She is always up for a challenge and has a presence about her that inspires you to do something active with your life. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious,” said Jaime Lange, the Center for Active Living Director. Garst specializes in Integral Hatha Yoga. It’s a type of yoga that integrates the body, mind and spirit through gentle exercises. “It’s yoga that deals with your body, mind and your spirit,” she said. “It’s not all these things you hear about hot, and fast and …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
It will take a village, says the Athens Community Council on Aging, to help people age successfully in place.
This village has no walls, but it still has a lot of the same characteristics, including helpfulness, vigilance, compassion and assistance. It's a virtual village, a network of friends, neighbors and professionals who will help Athens' older adults receive the necessary services, programs and products they need to grow old at home. The Athens Area Village is the first such organization in Georgia, according to Jennie Deese, director of the Athens Community Council on Aging. The Council on Aging received a grant to start the village, with which it has hired coordinator Kate Lenover. Plans are to charge members annual fees to participate, ranging from $250 to $300 for individuals, and somewhat less for a partner, spouse or sibling. Jim …
Thursday, January 26, 2012
As the need for food increases, so does the need for drivers and donationa.
Once upon a time, the folks who deliver Meals on Wheels in Athens noticed something. Some of the homebound older people weren’t eating the nutritious hot lunch taken to them every day. Instead, they were giving half or all the food to their pets. So, Meals on Wheels for Pets was created to fill that need. In addition to a hot lunch for humans, drivers now deliver dog and cat food, when needed.They also deliver library books. For many homebound adults, the love of a companion animal is what’s keeping them alive, and they will do what's necessary to keep that arthritic dog or feeble cat going. Grants and donations of money or food help fund this program. In Athens and Barrow County last year, Meals on Wheels delivered 90,000 lunchtime …
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
And the Athens Community Council on Aging Wants to Create One.
It takes a village to raise a child—and to help an elder stay in his or her home. So the Athens Community Council on Aging is going to build a virtual village of volunteers, services, programs and consumers, with a small staff, to do just that. The ACCA has received a $70,000 grant, though the NE Ga. Regional Commission and the Georgia Division of Aging Services. Of that, $63,000 will stay with the ACCA. The organization has spent more than a year talking with various experts in the community about the idea and how it would work here. With the grant money, said ACCA director Jennie Deese, the council will hire a coordinator who will help create “the village.” The original village concept began in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood and has…
Saturday, May 21, 2011
A dozen older women embody the ideals of aging gracefully and well.
- BUSINESS
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Saturday, May 21, 2011
Twelve amazing older women will vie for the title of Ms. Senior Athens tonight during a fund-raising gala at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. “We are thrilled with the group of candidates entered for the pageant, all of whom represent the ideals of living and aging well,” said Jennie Deese, chief executive officer for the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA). “It’s especially appropriate that we’re celebrating the vitality and beauty of older women during Older Americans Month.” The pageant celebrates women age 60 and over whose zest for life serves as a testimonial to the power of aging gracefully. Contestants include: Annette Barfield, Helen DeLong, Consie Vella Ellington, Catherine Moore Harden, Wilma …
Betsy Sanford
11:50 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Edna has been an inspiration to me on so many levels. Congratulations! I cannot think of anyone who deserves this recognition more than you. Thanks for all the years of being my yoga teacher as well as my dear friend. Betsy Sanford more ›