Kind Aid and Resources for the Elderly
I co-founded K.A.R.E. in 2014 after noticing the lack of companionship and platforms that the elderly in her community faced. K.A.R.E is a unique non profit organization that focuses on providing assistance and care to the elderly living in homes and senior centers. The organization's main objective is offering nutritious meals and companionship that elderly may not typically receive.
As an organization, I lead a team to visit neighbors and senior homes and offer food, books and hygienic essentials. In addition, we carry conversations, play games and help the elderly with daily chores. Together, the club has provided services to our main senior home, Curry Senior Center, and interacted with over 300 of the seniors. K.A.R.E. has had the opportunity of playing bingo and passing out prizes at the senior center. We visit neighbors and senior homes throughout the year in hopes of enhancing their life.
Alayna attends UC Berkeley, earning a Bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition.
Alayna
Co-Founder
President of San Francisco Chapter
Alyssa
Co-Founder
President of Davis Chapter
When I first came to UC Davis three years ago, I discovered the lack of assistance senior citizens received. There was not a single organization at UC Davis aimed to help the senior population with their daily needs and functionality. I decided to start the first elderly assisting organization at UC Davis, Kind Aid and Resources for the Elderly (K.A.R.E.). As a Founder and President for K.A.R.E., it was difficult to establish the club and to recruit members. After my first year, there were only 3 members in K.A.R.E., which put us at risk of not becoming a registered organization. In addition, none of the senior centers contacted us back with volunteering experiences. However, I did not give up and was determined to recruit members within my second year. I agreed with the other 2 members to each reach out to 3 friends and continued to put my passion to help the elderly above the obstacles I encountered with the club. I finally reached out to 20 students, only of which 7 were interested and contacted over four senior centers before finding Davis Senior Center to volunteer at. Today, we have impacted the senior population and grown as an organization at UC Davis. I have partnered with chapters at UC Berkeley and Lowell High School to help the elderly population in the Bay Area. Although our first initiatives were small, in which, we helped our senior neighbors take out their trash, prepare meals and assist them with their groceries, our ideas have proved to make a lasting impact. Today, we continue to volunteer at the Curry Senior Center in San Francisco, offering homeless senior citizens a nutritious meal. We often engage in the preparation of meals, as well as, lead the games of Bingo. Now, I am starting to serve the population in Davis, California. The Davis chapter of K.A.R.E. is looking to volunteer at the Davis Senior Center, in which I am hoping we can implement a nutritional program. Members of K.A.R.E. would be able to act as health educators, promoting the importance of exercise and nutrition based on the needs of senior citizens. Although these efforts have been small, they have also been rewarding.
It has been a pleasure watching the first elderly assisting organization grow. Although we consist of a small group, our efforts are huge. We continue to want to seek out to the Davis senior community and have worked with our chapters to further our mission of "aiding and assisting the elderly through acts of kindness."
Through my efforts with K.A.R.E., I now know I am passionate in working with the elderly. These humble experiences I have gained through this organization has inspired me to become a registered dietitian for the elderly population.
