Page 74 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2022 - Online Magazine

SENIOR RESOURCES

SILVER STAR

monetary donations, the group helped inventory and
organize items for easy access. They plan to continue
volunteering this effort on a quarterly basis. Representing the group,
Belinda Gallegos stated, “As nurses and future nurses,
we enjoy helping others and especially those in need.
by Jess Peterson We feel it is an honor to serve our community and
help our vulnerable elderly by donating supplies and
volunteering our time at the Silver Star Room.”

As a small volunteer board, we are blessed by the efforts
of these and other groups, like the Delta Omega Chapter
of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the Junior League
of Lubbock. And we couldn’t possibly provide what we
do for APS clients in the Lubbock area without the many
organizations and individuals who help us through
grants and donations.
hen I was working on my I hope you are spending your later years in volunteer
master’s degree in gerontology, efforts. If you are looking for a cause to help you feel
Wone of the areas that was like you are making a difference in your senior years,
emphasized the most was the importance consider the Llano Estacado Silver Star Board. Donations
of volunteerism in older adults. As seniors, we often have the are accepted at P.O. Box 65195, Lubbock, Texas 79464.
time, opportunity, and funds to reach out to others that younger You can also follow us on Facebook or call 806-698-5500
generations do not have. And, as seniors, we are often the for more information.
recipients of volunteer efforts by younger generations in areas
that make a huge difference in our lives and longevity. As a board
member of the Llano Estacado Silver Star Board, it is exciting to
see groups and individuals volunteering their efforts, time,
and funds to help some of the neediest in our community—in
this case, clients of Adult Protective Services.

Adult Protective Services (or APS) is a state agency
whose mission is to protect older adults and adults with
disabilities from abuse, by investigating and providing or
arranging for services if needed, to stop or prevent further
harm. Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, or sexual
abuse, exploitation, neglect (including self-neglect), and
abandonment.
Llano Estacado Silver Star Board (or LESSB) is a non-profit
organization that works closely with APS to provide for
needs of APS clients that are not met through state funding
or by other non-profit agencies. The board assists with rent,
transportation, heating/air conditioning units, utilities,
repair of utility lines, small home repairs, unusual medical/
dental expenses, appliances and furnishings, and any other
legitimate need as submitted to us by APS caseworkers.
LESSB maintains a Silver Star Room at APS’s Lubbock office
that is stocked with food, hygiene items, cleaning supplies,
blankets, and similar items. The room makes it easy for APS
caseworkers to grab items on their way to a client’s home.
Recently, the Texas Nurses Association–District 18, a non-
profit organization which serves as the local chapter for
RNs in Lubbock, Hockley, and Hale Counties, partnered
with Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Nursing,
Covenant School of Nursing, and Sigma Theta Tau-Iota Mu
Nursing Honor Society in donation drives and volunteer
events at the LESSB Silver Star Room. Besides material and

74 Lubbock Senior Link