With the impossibility of hosting its 16th annual Bingo Luncheon in person, Senior Resource Association staff and committee members put on their creative thinking caps and came up with something completely different – virtual Music Bingo.
Close to 200 people signed up to play, and, pre-event, picked up swag bags replete with assorted donated items, from hats and scarves to snack packs and liquid refreshments, along with a Marine Bank wine glass to drink it in. The bags also included the all-important bingo cards and daubers as well as pompoms to wave with abandon when bingo was achieved.
Exceptionally generous prizes, donated by individuals and businesses, were awarded to the winners, and in the days leading up to the event, players had automatically been entered into drawings for 10 equally impressive items. A separate raffle featured a chance to win a $2,000 shopping spree donated by John Michael Matthews.
“We’re giving away a gift box with three bottles of our wines, our Dignity, our Respect and our Le Bel Age. We make the wine to give back to senior care and Alzheimer’s,” said Elizabeth Van Dyk of Van Dyk Family Wines, at the final raffle drawing.
Additionally, she said, they have teamed up with JoAnn Crosby, owner of Alimentari Gourmet Market, to donate 15 percent of all Van Dyk wine sales purchased there to Senior Resources through April 15.
Senior Resources was lucky last year, as its Bingo Luncheon slipped in just under the wire. “We held it March 4, and by March 14 we were all working from home,” said Angela Bosman, events coordinator.
This time around, Tom Nelson and Anna Valencia Tillery, who each served as bingo callers in prior years, co-hosted the virtual affair, keeping up a running commentary of factoids about SRA and the music, plus information about the prizes.
Traditional bingo numbers had been replaced with song names, and participants in Zoom windows bopped along with the 45-second sound bites (randomly chosen by a computer) as they sought to fill in their card’s horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines.
Karen Deigl, SRA CEO/president, credited her creative staff and bingo committee for the success of the event, commenting that funds were needed more than ever.
“This past year has just been unprecedented. We increased the number of meals by just over 115 percent. We’re providing over 13,000 meals each month now. The number of people we’re feeding has increased by about 80 percent, which means we’re now feeding an average of about 450 people on a daily basis,” Deigl said.
Fortunately, said Deigl, they received CARES Act dollars through the state and local funding, which enabled them to feed the additional 140 people who had been on their wait list.
“But that money is not going to be around forever. So our biggest concern is, what happens when that CARES Act money goes away. We want to be able to continue to feed those people,” said Deigl.
“So we’re really working hard to raise the dollars to have the ability to feed them. Right now, we are able to feed them for sure until the first of July. We’re just waiting and looking at our numbers as things keep happening.”
Their two DayAway (adult daycare) facilities are operational, albeit with limited numbers.
“We all have COVID fatigue and for those who are caretakers, taking care of these people in the home, you can just double and triple that fatigue,” said Deigl. She said they phone regularly to check up on those clients who are coming in less frequently or not at all.
All other programs and services are also operating, including the Go Line and Community Coach.
“I do not want transportation to be a barrier to anyone who needs a vaccine. Even if they’re not a client, they can just call, and we will transport them,” said Deigl.
“We are really looking forward to going back to our regular bingo next year. It was nice to see everybody virtually, but we miss seeing them in person.”
For more information, visit senior
resourceassociation.org.
Photos by Brenda Ahearn
