April 29, 2005/Nisan 20 5765, Volume 57, No. 35
Enhancing life for Kivel residents
LEISAH NAMM
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 Kivel residents Al Plotkin, Sophie Kalinsky, center, and Doris Stein visit Kivel's ice cream parlor, a gift from the Kivel Auxiliary in 2001. Photo by Leisah Namm |
In the early days, auxiliary members wore uniforms and regularly visited with residents, called Bingo games, taught crafts projects, led sing-alongs and delivered water.
"We all started out delivering the water to the patients in the nursing home," says Edie Stoneman, an auxiliary member from 1972-1996, president for six years and co-president for four years. "The Water Brigade," as it was called, filled residents' water pitchers with fresh water. Today, due to safety requirements, members aren't allowed to volunteer in the same capacity, says co-president Andrea Svetly, who is Stoneman's niece, but "we try to get over there as much as we can."
The auxiliary's main focus now is raising funds to provide services that Kivel wouldn't otherwise be able to offer its residents. According to Svetly, the auxiliary raises $20,000-$30,000 annually, mainly through its annual luncheon but also through a thrift shop, tribute cards and a mini-mart in Kivel's independent apartments.
These funds do not pay for meals or salaries, but are used to "enhance the lives (of the residents) and enhance the campus," says Svetly, who remembers visiting Kivel with her aunt and mother when she was a child.
Through the years, these enhancements have included an ice cream parlor, a transportation van and bus, a dental/ophthalmology clinic, fish tanks, a pet therapy program, cable TV, renovated dining rooms and a computer program.
"The residents totally enjoy everything the auxiliary's done for them," says Ira Shulman, Kivel executive director and CEO.
In 1976, the organization opened Kivel Auxiliary's Kloset Thrift Shop. Volunteers run the store, which accepts donations of "lightly used" children's and adult clothing and household goods that are in "good shape and clean," says Lee Weisen, who has volunteered at the thrift shop since 1988. The only paid employees are the truck drivers, which explains why the shop can't accept donations of shabby furniture. "If you're ready to throw it out, we can't afford to pick it up to sell it," she says.
Thelma Shano, who has volunteered at the shop for 25 years, says she enjoys meeting people and working with "the girls" in the store. "I've made some real good friends and it's fun," she says.
The most unusual donation she remembers is when a woman's mother-in-law died and they wanted to give everything to Kivel. Shano and another volunteer spent two days cleaning out the two-bedroom apartment.
Ronna Savot, an auxiliary member and volunteer for more than 30 years, remembers when the store first opened.
Joy Frank, who has since moved to Chicago, organized a one-day sale at the Kivel Manor to give it a test run, Savot says. "It was so successful, they said 'go ahead.'"
Savot, who moved to Phoenix from Buffalo, N.Y., in 1974, got involved in the auxiliary through a sister-in-law who "breathed and ate Kivel," and has worked at all four of the store's locations. The store started at 32nd and Roosevelt streets, moved to 16th Street and McDowell Road then to Central Avenue and Fillmore Street, then to its current location at 638 W. Indian School Road.
Savot continued to volunteer at the store even after heart bypass surgery. She stopped only recently, at age 91, because she moved farther away than she is comfortable driving. "It was very near and dear to me," she says. "I really miss it."
Savot is the honoree of the auxiliary's May 3 luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore.
This year, the auxiliary celebrates its 40th anniversary of being incorporated as a nonprofit entity with Kivel, says Svetly, who is serving her second year as co-president with Beth Ladin.
The auxiliary has more than 1,000 members - some are lifetime members - and an active board of about 20 women and a few men, Svetly says.
Proceeds from this year's luncheon will go toward upgrading outdoor recreational and social areas, including new furniture and improved landscaping.
Svetly encourages young adults to get involved with the auxiliary. "It's a nice way to give back to the Jewish community," she says.
As for the Kivel residents, they "enjoy the ice cream parlor, they enjoy the extra activities and they've voiced tremendous pleasure in the renovated dining rooms," Shuman says.
"The auxiliary has been a tremendous benefit to the residents of Kivel and has clearly enhanced their quality of life."