On Thursday, AmeriCorps Seniors hosted the event, along with Samaritan’s Feet Seniors and Serve Ohio in partnership with the United Way of Northern Columbiana County at an auxiliary building behind the Lisbon Church of the Nazarene on Market Street.

Local organizations were on hand to provide information about available resources for seniors as well as provide free health screenings as well as a light lunch with sloppy joes, chips and cookies to attendees.

Participating agencies included the Sight for All United, which provided vision screenings; Salem Area Visiting Nurses; Family Resource Center; Salem Regional Medical Center; North Star Critical Care ambulance service; Harmony Hospice; Comfort Keepers and Home Instead, two additional provider of home health care services; Catholic Charities, who offers domestic violence victims through Christina House; as well as the Family & Community Services food pantry.

Marti Leake, who is the RSVP program coordinator for Columbiana, Mahoning, Jefferson and Trumbull counties, acknowledged that the Hope Totes were a definite draw for seniors, who had reserved them.

At left, RSVP volunteer Ron Gallo removes the gifted shoes from Joyce Saling’s tote, as she sits and waits for him to double check the fit. Saling came to the event along with a four-member contingent from the House of Grace Resource Center, which is located in East Liverpool. The tote also included a pair of Bomba socks, many resource materials as well as hygiene items and a Hope note from local volunteers. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

The AmeriCorps team had organized the event around those totes, which contained a new pair of senior-friendly shoes with Velcro enclosures in the place of laces, which could allow the wearer to adjust them as needed if their feet had become swollen.

After securing $1,000 in funding from a Make A Difference grant through ServeOhio to purchase some shoes through Samaritan’s Feet, the AmeriCorps were successful in getting a $1,000 match for additional pairs from Samaritan’s Feet themselves, now run by Deborah Cox-Roush, who herself had been affiliated with AmeriCorps.

She always had been a big backer of AmeriCorps senior programming, explained Jessica Sabin, who was involved in Thursday’s event. Sabin serves as the national service director on behalf of another participating organizer, Axess Family Services, and was in attendance.

The Hope totes, sponsored by the Samaritan’s Feet and the county AmeriCorps chapter, was the main draw for the resource fair.

Leake estimated that each tote, which had to be pre-reserved to assure that the free pair of shoes were of the proper size, had a value in excess of $35.

Christine Hiner  and Ruthie Williams of East Liverpool sit down to eat their lunches after receiving their Hope totes and fittings. They were among the contingent attending from the House of Grace Resource Center. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

In addition to the shoes, which were double checked by RSVP volunteers at the event on the recipient, each tote included a pair of Bomba socks, free literature and hygiene items as well as a Hope Note written by a volunteer.

Leake said that she hopes to eventually do the event again.

A table in front of the entrance held all the Hope totes, which were central to Thursday’s RSVP resource event at Lisbon Church of the Nazarene. The pre-reserved bags contained a pair of senior friendly shoes, Bomba socks, hygiene items, literature and a Hope note written to each recipient by a RSVP volunteer. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)