Mary Anne Milledge retired from Owens-Corning after more than 34 years, but she wasn't ready to retire.
For the past four years, she has served as a foster grandmother at the Pinecrest Center and now at the Freedman Center.
"I'm being educated by 3- and 4-year-olds," Milledge said with a laugh. "It's fun, and I enjoy watching them grow up."
Earlier this month she and as many as 120 other participants with the foster grandparent program and the Retired Senior Volunteers Program (RSVP) enjoyed lunch, dancing and a '50s costume contest at a Christmas party in their honor at the H. Odell Weeks Activities Center.
The foster grandparent programs provides about 115 people to serve in a variety of roles to Aiken, Edgefield, Allendale and Barnwell County public school and after-school programs. It's administered through the Aiken-Barnwell Community Action Commission and funded through the National Senior Service Corporation. The minimum age for participation is 60, and prospective foster grandparents must meet income eligibility requirements and pass a physical. All work five hours a day, four days a week.
Toni Brunson has worked with the office for 11 years, the past three as director.
"I love it," she said. "I love what it does for seniors, as it's a win-win situation. It gets them out of the house so they can feel like they're making a difference and earn a little bit of extra income."
Joyce Los spent 17 years as the agency director "and I finally got as old" as the foster grandparents, she said. She retired three years ago and, after a year away, readily accepted Brunson's offer to return as her former staffer's assistant.
"I love the grandparents, and I like working for Toni," Los said. "It's a lifeline for low-income seniors who might not be able to volunteer otherwise."
Preston Hewett, a retired mechanic, has served Belvedere for about six years, serving as a crossing guard and as a granddad with Darla Crook's kindergarten students.
"It's the best experience I can have," he said. "It's nice to be with those little children. A lot of them will talk with me in the lunchroom after they've moved up to first grade."
Dorothy Moyers runs RSVP as a sister program. Participants can be 55 or older. It's strictly voluntary and doesn't provide a stipend, said Brunson. But the RSPV volunteers can choose the hours they work, which can be as little as one hour a month or a full workweek. While many work in schools, others volunteer at the Aiken County Sheriff's Office, the Courthouse or agencies like ACTS.
When Los joined the foster grandparent program, she had a small grant for about 50 people and would make them soup and corn bread. Happily, the program today is in good shape financially, with Brunson's grant application approved for 2009. But when there was talk about a funding reduction last year, Brunson said, foster programs throughout the nation went on a letter-writing campaign, aided by teachers and principals.
It worked, and the foster grandparents and the kids they serve are the beneficiaries, Brunson said. The late Matilda Rice kept working through her 100th birthday. Several others currently active in the schools are in their 80s, among them Eloise Todd, 84, a grandmom at Oakwood-Windsor Elementary School who works with first-grade teachers Sarah Northington and Emile Crenshaw and their students.
"I wanted something to do," Todd said. "I help the children with reading and listen to all their problems. I get hugs every morning. Lots of hugs."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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