End of year thanks

The last of the leaves have fallen, trick-or-treaters have scurried about in the dark, and it’s now time to turn our energies to the last holidays of the year — while keeping our sanity. As the end of one year approaches and another begins, it’s the perfect time for me to take a few minutes to reflect on what our agency has to be thankful for.

In no particular order, we are thankful for:

• The community donors who honor our agency through their generous donations throughout the year. They humble us while energizing our collective efforts to ensure our mission is successfully achieved.
• The City of Madison, Dane County and United Way for their continued financial support of our programs, specifically our case management, nutrition, cultural diversity and caregiver programs.
• The dynamic volunteers who donate their precious time helping our older adults and agency in a multitude of ways — setting tables, shoveling snow, visiting with our older adults, answering phones, stuffing envelopes, selling brats, calling bingo and much more. Any measure of our success is due largely to our volunteers.
• Several community businesses for endorsing our efforts with major grants or sponsorships throughout the year — American Family Insurance, Area Agency on Aging of Dane County, the Evjue Foundation, Group Health Cooperative, Madison Gas and Electric, Oak Park Place, UW Health and Unity Point Health.

Highly successful programs we hosted throughout the year include the Summer Concert Series, Multicultural Senior Health Fair, Caregiver Events, Black Tie Bingo, Come Together Party and AppleFest.

And lastly, thanks for the memories. We’ve said sad good-byes to several long-time participants and clients, and we’ve welcomed several new friends and staff.

On behalf of the NESCO staff and board, I wish you a happy holiday season. See you in 2018.