Rittenhouse Village at Portage held its ninth annual Vera Bradley bingo on Saturday, November 4. Residents and their families were treated to snacks, drinks, and the opportunity to win special prizes.
Danielle Balek, Senior Lifestyle Counselor at Rittenhouse Village at Portage, expressed how important this event has been in bringing people together.
“We have been hosting this event for nine years,” Balek said. “This is also the first event that we’ve hosted in our building since the pandemic. We love to give back to the community and there’s always great turnout.”
Balek, who has been with the company for more than five years, emphasizes how the Rittenhouse Village puts on events such as bingo to make people feel comfortable and have an entertaining experience.
“Every event that we do is open and geared toward the residents,” Balek said. “Today, we have bingo. We’ve also had car shows, food trucks, and a holiday bazaar in December. We try to provide the residents with activities they would do in their everyday life prior to moving in.”
Matt Helpingstine, Humana representative, was the caller for the evening. He discusses how Humana works with places like the Rittenhouse Village on exhilarating events for the community.
“While I’ve done bingo before at the Rittenhouse Village, this is the first time I’ve been a part of this event specifically,” Helpingstine said. “Our Humana team does a lot of work with senior centers, food pantries, and other volunteer opportunities to help out the community.”
Many of the prize bags consisted of Humana items inside. Of the 20 bags, 10 of them were purchased by the Rittenhouse Village and the other 10 came from various vendors including Humana.
“Bingo gives the people here a lot of entertainment,” Helpingstine said. “There are some people who have been waiting for months on the edge of their seats to play bingo today. It’s great for not only the seniors but their families too.”
One could say that some were even waiting for this day since last year’s event concluded. Kim Wellman, who was a newcomer to participate in this year’s event, notes that she has been looking forward to this for a long time.
“My friend went to the event last year and had a blast,” Wellman said. “This year, she invited me to come with her because I haven’t done this here before. I think it’s a wholesome event that the Rittenhouse Village has put together.”
With all the anticipation leading up to the event, Wellman was optimistic that she could walk away with one of the 20 bingo prizes.
“Hopefully, I can walk out of here with a Vera Bradley purse,” Wellman said. “I could use a new one. These purses are pretty expensive too, so it would be great to win one of them.”
All of the proceeds for this bingo charity event went to the Bonner Senior Center. Balek has a lot of appreciation for their relationship with the Rittenhouse Village.
“They’re a really awesome senior center in the Portage community,” Balek said. “They are completely run by donations, public funds, and additional grants. We try to help them whenever we get the chance.”
For more information on the Rittenhouse Village at Portage, you can visit their website.