BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
For the past 9 years, Ms. RicheDean Hills-Ackbar has brightened the holidays for senior citizens. This year, she is seeking student volunteers, singers, and musicians to help with the holiday festivities.
Ms. Hills-Ackbar said her son, Terry Cole, was part of her inspiration to create the organization, known as Caregiver’s Helping Hand, Inc. “As a child, my son would automatically help seniors, and I believe the influence of my mother, made him respectful of senior citizens.”
Her son entered the Navy the first year the program was in existence, she said.
Ms. Hills-Ackbar said that while she was caring for her mother, the late Mrs. Fredonia Hills, she came to realize that there were many seniors in need of help. “I realized that my mother would have been like many others seniors if I hadn’t been there to help her. Some people don’t have anyone.”
Ms. Hills-Ackbar said she taught at Tampa Bay Technical High School. A meeting with some Hillsborough County principals resulted in students receiving credit for community service hours by volunteering with her program.
This year, the organization will visit 18 nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and senior citizen complexes. They will sing Carols, deliver greeting cards, and gifts. “I want them to see healthy seniors as well as those who are indigent, so we visit all types of facilities.”
[private]The organization will begin visiting seniors on Saturday, December 4th, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Some places they will stop include the Ybor City Health and Rehab Center, the Methodist Center, Hanna Oaks, Central Tampa Assisted Living Facility, and Dee Holmes Residential Care Center.
On Saturday, December 11th, the group will visit The Inn at University Village, Fletcher Health and Rehab Center, Palm Terrace, and John Knott Village Care Unit.
They will visit the Young At Heart Center on Thursday, December 16th.
On Saturday, December 18th, the group will visit Kings Manor, Heritage Home, South Tampa Health & Rehab Center, Living With Grace Center, and the At Home With Friends Center.
The program will come to an end on Monday, December 20th, after they visit the Park Club of Brandon, Hawthorne Inn of Brandon, and Hawthorne Village of Brandon.
Anyone wishing to volunteer can contact Ms. Hills-Ackbar at (813) 379-8966 or (813) 431-1814.[/private]
