Volunteer of the Month
Archives
April 2021
Leisa Alexander
This month we’d like to shine the light on someone few of you may have seen, but may have benefited from her volunteering. Lesia (pronounced Lisa) Alexander has been helping us out since 2020. During that time she has helped serve meals for Thanksgiving, Operation Senior Claus, and most recently, the Grab-n-Go dinners Monday thru Friday she can be helping out her sister, Mae Lucero, getting the dinners from the local restaurants, then helping to distribute them to seniors at the center. However, Leisa doesn’t just come here help to serve food. All that work can wear a person out, so when she’s not volunteering, she enjoys coming to the center’s Aerobics Program to boost her cardio. Originally from Meridian, MS, she and her two siblings came out Calif., to live with, and be raised by their big sister Mae, when their mom passed away. After she grew up she went to work for the Dept. of Corrections where she worked for 27 years before retiring. During that time she raised a son, who in turn, gave her a grandchild. Thanks Leisa for helping to ensure that our senior don’t go hungry.
Featured Class
Spanish
Date: April 23, 2020
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Length: 8 weeks
Cost: $8 members
$8 non-members
Instructor: TBA
Location: Game Room
Description: This class is designed to teach students conversational Spanish. The class will enable you to carry on limited conversation at first just to get you started. Then as you progress, so will the levels. As for what to bring, just bring a writing instrument and paper. Books might come later. We hope to see you there, or as you will soon be saying, Esperamos verte ahÃ.
Featured Activity
Tai Chi
Time: Mondays 11:30 a.m.
Cost: $3.00 members
$3.00 non-members
Location: Exercise Room
Description: The Chinese characters for Tai Chi Chuan can be translated as the Supreme Ultimate Force. The notion of supreme ultimate is often associated with the Chinese concept of yin-yang, the notion that one can see a dynamic duality (male/female, active/passive, dark/light, forceful/yielding, etc.) in all things. Force (or, more literally, fist) can be thought of here as the means or way of achieving this ying-yang, or supreme-ultimate discipline. Or it is possibly from it's origins as a martial art and self-defense technique. Tai Chi as it is more commonly referred to, is practiced in the west today as a moving form of yoga and meditation combined. There are a number of so-called forms (sometimes also called sets) which consist of a sequence of movements. Many of these movements are originally derived from the martial arts and perhaps even more ancestrally than that, from the natural movements of animals and birds. Legend has it that a Taoist monk, first developed a set of 13 exercises that imitate the movements of animals. Some of the movements are even called the Monkey Pick and Horses Mane. It is an exercise almost anyone who can walk can do safely. Tai chi takes the joints gently through their range of motion, while the emphasis on breathing and inner stillness relieves stress and anxiety. Your instructor is Katsuko aka Kats Shiomi and classes held on Mondays and Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., and the cost is only $3.00 per class. Students should wear comfortable clothing and come ready to find their inner peace.
Lowe_s Heroes Project Benefits the Center
By: Mike Sylva
Last month five of Lowe’s Heroes from the Highland store, descended upon the Highland Senior Center as part of Lowe’s ongoing Heroes Project program. The center wasn’t sure if those heroes knew what they had in store for them. Cleaning and renovating the center’s pantry, which had not been straightened up in years.
This herculean task was as daunting as Hercules’ task of cleaning the Augean Stables, which held thousands of cows and had not been cleaned in 30 years. Our heroes didn’t need to bend any rivers to clean it out. Just some old fashioned sweat and elbow grease.
First they had to take everything out, then strip and clean the walls, and paint. They had to wait for the paint to dry, or they would’ve had it finished in a day, like Hercules. They next day they were back reorganizing, and installing wall shelves, and standing pantry shelves. By the time they were done, the place was unrecognizable. When everything was put back, the pantry still had more room than ever.
The Highland Senior Center would like to thank these true heroes for volunteering their time, hard work, and experience, to make the center a better place. They would also like to thank Lowe’s for selecting them to benefit from this great project.
