The Kearsarge Area Council on Aging (COA) announces that it was selected as a winner of the 2013 STAR Award for Excellence by the Beverly Foundation and its nationwide committee of experts in aging and transportation. The award comes with a cash prize of $5,000 that will be used to promote and provide transportation services to older adults.
COA has long provided door-through-door volunteer-driven transportation to nine area communities – a 329 square mile area – using a model based on providing important human connections and special attention to each rider. Since 2010, COA volunteer drivers — including Jay and Robin Boynton, Richard Brewster, Bill and Pat Cutter, Nancy Emerson, and Rae Voss, all of Andover — have provided more than 4,440 rides to seniors, ranging from important medical rides to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, to routine chores like grocery shopping and trips to Clarke’s Hardware. More than 125 drivers generously volunteer their time and their automobiles.
COA executive director Nancy Friese framed the program’s uniqueness: “Our COA transportation system is needs-based. When someone needs a ride, we find a way to make it happen. Our rides are never ‘just a ride.’ They represent human needs that are carefully considered and paid attention to.”
Based on the premise that healthy aging is more than physical health – it’s about the whole person who is mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually well – COA has long provided free transportation services to the region’s seniors through its volunteer-driver program. Keeping seniors connected, engaged, and socially active is a vital service to area seniors. Nancy adds, “Our volunteer drivers are our ambassadors, and each of them shows tremendous caring and compassion for their riders. Our drivers are wonderful, generous people, and we thank them for their efforts.”
The Beverly Foundation organized the STAR Awards in 2000 as a way to celebrate excellence in the field of transportation options for seniors. In addition to recognizing excellent organizations like the COA, the STAR Award program has become a tool for influencing public policy about the importance of senior transportation and for encouraging communities to support organizations like COA.
COA is celebrating its 20th year of serving healthy, active, and independent seniors in the towns of Andover, Danbury, Grantham, Newbury, New London, Sunapee, Sutton, Springfield, and Wilmot through its headquarters at the Chapin Senior Center in New London. The Center is open 1,800 hours each year to serve a diverse population of seniors, with more than 40 programs, services, and activities.
COA has a well-earned reputation for providing the highest quality referral and information resources that include a full roster of how-to workshops, wellness and prevention services, social activities, educational programs, and cultural activities.