June 18

Today seemed like it was going to be a typical day at the senior center. Lynn taught her exercise class and while she did that I made the senior centers calendar for next month. When she was done with that, someone came in for a lecture, and she brought along a former New York Giant! Everyone got to meet him, takes pictures, and touch his Super Bowl trophy and ring. It was really exciting and he was a really nice guy. Once all the craziness and excitement was over, it was time for lunch. Everything went smoothly, especially since the new woman Jenny has begun getting the hang of things in the kitchen. 

June 17

Today was a little different than most days. Lynn decided to hold a "swap meet" where all the seniors were invited to bring belongings they no longer wanted to swap with others and get new things. Before all of this though, we had a usual day. Lynn taught her exercise class and then we set everything up for lunch. The food was hard to clean up, but Jackie and I know how to do it quickly now. Then at one o'clock the fun began. Jackie and I set up tables and chairs for everyone. Each person got to pick a number from 1-20 and were called up in order to pick what they wanted to trade, that way everything would stay organized. Once that was over our day was done. 

June 14

Today was a crazy day since there's always so much extra food delivered to the senior center on Fridays. For some reason, we got less food than we had last week so we were able to manage all of it with ease. There's a new woman who was hired to work in the kitchen, and having any extra person to help out makes a big difference. It made me feel like a pro since I had to tell her what to do and where everything was, even though I would still consider myself new at this. Once we did all of that, Lynn taught her exercise class. Then it was time for lunch. There was a lot of hot food, so cleaning took awhile. 

June 12

Today we spent most of the day getting ready to sell tickets for an Atlantic City trip. They were going on sale at ten. Debbie handed out numbers to

those interested so it wouldn't be as crazy when we sold them. Once it was ten, we sat at a table and one by one the people were called. We wrote down their name, cell phone number, and an emergency contact number. When they paid their twenty three dollars we gave them their ticket. When that was done we began setting up for lunch and were able to get everything done rather quickly. 

June 11

Today we began with trying to figure out how to begin cleaning out a large supply closet in the dining room. There's a lot of clutter, and it would take a lot of time to figure out how to fix it all up. Unfortunately, since bingo is played in the dining room, it would be difficult to fully work on it because we would disrupt their game. After that Lynn began to teach her exercise class. There was supposed to be an assembly woman coming to the center to give a lecture to

the seniors, but she was unable to come at the last minute. So to improvise, Lynn told us to have a "tech talk" where we would answer any questions the seniors had on technology. I helped one woman add contacts into her cell phone since she didn't know how to do it herself. Then it was time for lunch. It was all hot food so clean up took awhile today. Lucky for us, a senior named Walter brought in some of his leftover chocolate

birthday cake (which was delicious)!

June 10

Today I first showed Lynn all of our pom pictures because she was so excited to see them! For a little while we talked all about prom. Then I cut tickets that are going to be sold for the seniors to go on an Atlantic City trip. Then I had to go to cvs for Lynn because they ran completely  out of copy paper. After that Jackie and I cleaned out a cabinet in the supply closet. There were a lot of things we didn't know what to do with, so it felt as though we didn't get much done. Finally it was time for lunch. Everything was cold, so there were less things to clean.

June 5

Today we had to make more copies of their calendar on legal paper, but we forgot to tell the copy machine that. I made fifty copies and parts of information on each paper was missing. Luckily it was only missing a few things, so Jackie and I were able to just write them in. Then we made a sign for the bathrooms because starting tomorrow, there will be construction on the men's bathroom. Afterwards, we set up for lunch. We almost didn't have enough food for everyone! But luckily we had JUST enough. 

June 4

Today was a little different from every other day. Usually the same person calls out the numbers for bingo, but he was not coming into the center, so Jackie and I had to call them out. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but those seniors take their bingo very seriously. It was easy once I got the hang of things. I had to remember to be loud so the whole room would be able to hear everything I was calling out. This was going on while Lynn was teaching her exercise class, so we didn't take part in it today. Then it was time for lunch, so we had to set everything up once we were done with bingo. Everything went smoothly for the day!

June 3

Today I performed mostly office work. I made copies, typed something up, and folded papers. Then Jackie and I spent a lot of time reorganizing two file cabinets. They were extremely messy and had so much junk thrown around everywhere. One drawer probably had thirty different decks of cards. Others had old papers and notebooks shoved in them. We were able to clean them all and make things organized. Once that was done, we set up for lunch. It was simple today because there were a few people missing and we didn't have to serve as many seniors as usual.

May 31

Fridays are quite busy at the senior center. At the end of each week we get an abundance of extra breads, pastries, and other food items from local places. We spent a lot of our time today organizing all these extra things. Some we put into bags for the seniors to take home, some we were giving out for them to eat then and there, and other things were being saved for the events they have on Saturdays. I got a short break from doing that and got to participate in Lynn's exercise class. Once that was over, it was time to start getting ready for lunch. We served everything quickly but cleaning up took a little while longer since Jackie wasn't there. 

May 30

Today the first thing I did with Lynn was go to the Boro Hall to help her make double sided copies. She said she had gone the day before, but simply could not figure out how to work the copy machine. I realized you only had to push one button and you were set. It was cool to go upstairs at the Boro Hall and see where the mayor works. Then when we got back, it was time for "Walk at Work" day. Lynn led the seniors for a walk around the track. While she was doing that, she wanted Jackie and I to stay there and answer any phone calls and to take lead if anything were to happen to anyone who was still at the center. It felt good to know that she trusted us enough to leave us with that responsibility. Once that was done, it was time for lunch and we set up for it, served it, and then cleaned up afterwards.

May 29

Today the first thing Jackie and I did was take a CVS shopping cart back to CVS because a senior brought it to the center and then it started raining, so she couldn't do it herself. Lynn got a new computer monitor and was unsure how to set it up, for after a little while of moving things around and trying to plug in different wires, Jackie and I were able to figure it out. Lynn called us her I.T. girls. Afterwards, we cleaned the around the office because after moving everything around we noticed it was pretty dusty. We also got rid of some boxes and papers that had been in the supply closet to make room for other things. We took them out because luckily the garbage men were picking up papers. Then we set up for lunch. Lunch today was easy because it was all cold food, so there was less to clean up. 

May 24

Today Jackie and I began labeling all the chemicals in the kitchen, but then we were in for a surprise. Teaneck's senior center had a gas leak, so we got all of their food. There was SO much food to prepare. We had a double amount of everything. Not only that, but every Friday the senior center gets donations of extra food and desserts. We had to spend most of the day getting ready for lunch and setting everything up. Lucky for us, we got to take pastries and bread home. Everything was so good! With a few minutes of spare time, Jackie and I joined in on the exercise. Lynn was so thankful to have us, because with all that food she wouldn't have been able to get everything ready as quickly as we did. Although we had a lot to do, it made the time go by quickly.

May 23

The first thing Jackie and I did today was put the names of the cleaning supplies the senior center had on labels, and then listed their hazardous chemicals and case numbers on labels next to the names. It was pretty easy since we did all the hard work finding the chemicals and case numbers for them yesterday. After that we went to the kitchen to put bread for everyone's lunch in bags. By then it was ten o'clock and the exercise class was about to begin. Jackie and I were allowed to join in again and realized we were surprisingly feeling a burn from it. Once that was over we set up for lunch again and served it to everyone. Clean up took a little longer than it did yesterday because today they had barbecue chicken, and getting the sauce off of everything was a hassle. But overall it was a relaxing and easy day.

May 22

Today Jackie and I focused mostly on trying to find the chemical names that are in the cleaning supplies and listing their code numbers. Some products were simple and listed everything we needed on the bottle while others we had to look for online. It took us awhile to complete the task because some websites didn't give all the information we needed. Eventually, we got it all done and Lynn was extremely excited. She said if she had to do it on her own it would have taken her a long time and that would mean putting other things she needs to do on hold. Jackie and I were able to do it in a matter of about two hours. Once we were done with that, it was time to set up for lunch. I think Jackie and I really have gotten the hang of things because we were done serving and cleaning up much faster than we were the past two days. I also think the seniors who go there are used to us being around, they always refer to us by our names and ask us a lot of questions, most if them being about college and what we want to do when we grow up. 

May 21

When I arrived today, Lynn explained to me and Jackie that the chemicals in cleaning products needed to be displayed according to New Jersey law. We spent some time writing them down, but there were other important things to take care of. We had to help out in the kitchen like we did yesterday. But then we did something more fun; Lynn held an exercise class for the seniors and let us be apart of the class. She says she hopes that if we take the class and learn how to run it, we could teach the class ourselves, which is something I would really enjoy doing! All the women taking the class seemed to be really enjoying  themselves, and it was fun to watch them and listen to them sing along with the music. They were all talking to me and Jackie and were all so kind and friendly. To end the day, we once again helped serve lunch then we cleaned up afterwards. 

May 20

Being that today was the first day of senior service, I was unsure as to what I should expect. When I got there, the first thing I did was help in the kitchen so they would be ready for lunch. Lynn, the director of the senior center, said she really needed people to work in the kitchen, so was really excited that Jackie and I were volunteering there. After doing that, we rearranged the books they had to make them neat and easily accessible. Then came time for lunch, so we helped put the meals together and then we served them to all the seniors. When everyone finished eating, we served a cake because it was Rosemarie's, a seniors, birthday and her son brought it to surprise her. Finally, we cleaned everything up and our work day was over.