On Wednesday, two of Portage’s most valuable senior resources joined together when the Rittenhouse Village at Portage presented a check to the Bonner Senior Center.
Ran by the Portage Township Trustee’s office, the Bonner Senior Center provides food, transport, as well as social and health wellness programs to seniors around the community. It is an essential service, one that is immensely popular with the local seniors, with over 100 people a day dropping by to have lunch or participate in any of the center’s different programs. As a local senior living community, Rittenhouse recognized how important the Bonner Senior Center is to Portage.
“As a resident of Portage and someone who has a family member who belongs to Bonner, it’s easy to see what it means to the community,” said Danielle Balek, Senior Lifestyle Counselor at Rittenhouse Village. “As we get older we need things to do, ways to keep busy and stay active, and the senior center provides just that.”
Back in early November, Rittenhouse Village hosted “Vera Bradley Bingo,” where players competed for Vera Bradley bags full of items donated by local businesses, with all proceeds going to local senior centers. The event raised $1,600, half went to the Maria Reiner Center in Hobart while the rest was presented to the Bonner Center. For an organization that survives on public funding and a small $10 annual donation from its members, every single dollar goes a long way.
“This donation helps us not only continue providing the center’s standard services, but lets us create extra programming for our seniors,” said Nina Rivus, Chief of Staff for the Portage Township Trustee’s office. “Plus, partnerships with organizations like Rittenhouse help get the word out about the center. It’s important to have as many of those partnerships across the community as we can.”
Janet Clem, Director at the Center, sees every day just how much the community they and the seniors have built means to their members.
“For some of them, it’s basically like a ‘job’ to come here, because so many of the things that go on here are done by our seniors that volunteer,” Clem said. “Everyone has a purpose, whether it just be to come in and play cards or volunteering in ways like rolling silverware, making coffee, and helping other seniors that may not be able to do things for themselves.”
The Rittenhouse team was proud to give back to an organization that means so much to the people they serve, and Balek had just one thought to leave people with.
“I would just strongly recommend that anyone who hasn’t been here, to come visit and see what it’s all about!”
To learn more about Rittenhouse Village at Portage, visit www.rittenhousevillages.com/senior-living/in/portage/rittenhouse-village-at-portage. For more about the Bonner Senior Center, check out portagetrustee.org/bonner-senior-center.