Sarah Gillett Services this year awarded 25 grants totaling $27,980 to agencies that serve senior citizens.
WESTFIELD – The poor economy has taken its toll on Sarah Gillett Services for the Elderly forcing it for the first time in its 42-year-history to reach out to the community for financial assistance so it can continue to support non-profit agencies.
“The height of community service is being able to help people who need services,” Robert R. Wilcox, foundation treasurer said.
But, “the need now is greater than our resources,” said Vice President Peter H. Martin.
As a result, the agency has launched a fund-raising effort, seeking donations both corporate and private to help secure its financial foundation and allow it to continue to provide annual grants to other agencies that serve senior citizens.
There is no specific goal of the ‘Helping “Sarah” Help Seniors’ campaign, but the foundation hopes to “educate people on the service that Sarah Gillett Services provides Westfield and the hilltowns” and by doing so, raise funds that will provide needed services in the community,said President Anne W. Lichtenberger.
Officers say since the foundation was created in 1970 it has contributed more than $1 million for senior services. In the past, annual donations to area non-profit organizations that serve the elderly were as much as $60,000, Lichtenberger said.
Earlier this year, the foundation was able to provide 25 grants to service organizations for a total of $27,980.
“We serve agencies that serve senior citizens and donations made to Sarah Gillett will be used to secure and preserve our foundation so that we can continue to support others,” the president said.
A brochure outlining the purpose and history of Sarah Gillett Services for the Elderly is being mailed to Westfield businesses and residents in August utility bills from the Westfield Gas and Electric Department.
“People can give an outright donation or a gift through estate planning,” Lichtenberger said.
Several donations have been made to the foundation over the years in the form of bequests, officers said.
Sarah Gillette Services for the elderly dates back to 1907 with the creation of a home for senior citizens on Broad Street. The home was later sold and the proceeds used by the foundation to provide grants to other non-profit agencies.
Many of the grants awarded each year go to agencies that have benefited from Sarah Gillette for years such as the local food bank, 33 years, and the Westfield Council on Aging for the past 29 years.
The Westfield Athenaeum has received Gillett grants for the past 28 years to help increase its large print book collection and collection of audio books, said director Christopher Lindquist.
“We are exceptionally pleased to work with Sarah Gillett Services to supplement our books and services used by seniors. Our large print collection is one of the most used in the Athenaeum,” Lindquist said.
Grants awarded this past spring ranged from as little as $140 to Paper Mill Elementary School to transport pupils to a nursing home, to $4,225 to provide financial assistance to seniors seeking day care services at the Mercy Adult Day Health of Westfield.