February 20, 2009
JMHA members give Valentine’s Party at Little Sisters of the Poor
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
A group of young people celebrated Valentine’s Day with their “adopted grandparents” at Little Sisters of the Poor in Evansville Feb. 15. The members of the Junior Mental Health Association gave hand-crafted necklaces and earrings to residents and patients at the home.
The Junior Mental Health Association, an offspring of the Mental Health Association, was founded in 1963, the first such organization in the United States.
For the past 21 years, JMHA members have been volunteering at Little Sisters, and usually organizing and celebrating a “Second Christmas in January.”
This year represented a break in that tradition, but allowed the members to use some new creative efforts, according to Helen Kremzar, JMHA volunteer director and state chair. The youth gathered several times at Kremzar’s house for the project.
“We presented each resident with hand-crafted jewelry, lo-tions, socks and sweets,” Krem-zar said. “There were 45 patients who attended the party and participated in games.”
Kremzar said new grandparents were adopted at the party, the sisters attended the party, too, and “there was much love and exchange between the residents and the visitors.”
The youth of the Junior Mental Health Association feel “honored to be able to volunteer at Little Sisters of the Poor. They consider St. John’s Home for the Aged their spiritual oasis.”
Gina Deom, a 17-year old senior at Bosse High School and a member of Holy Rosary Church in Evansville, is community services chair for JMHA. She also enjoys working on set de-signs and lighting at school plays. She teaches religious education at Holy Rosary and re-ceived the Maria Goretti Award in 2008. Gina’s 13-year old sister Selene Deom is also active in the group.
Other active members include Horem Carter, Shelly Crow, Na-than Guthrie, Brianna Cannon and Holden Hanson, all of Evansville, and Ella Kachanuk of Mount Vernon.
The jewelry workshops were led by Abigail Klausmeier, a JMHA youth advisor and an interior design student at Ivy Tech in Evansville.
JMHA members volunteer with the children at the Evansville Psychiatric Children’s Cen-ter and the adults at the Evansville State Hospital. They also assist at the St. John the Apostle Soup Kitchen in Evansville on the first Sunday of each month, and they help at the Muscular Dystrophy telethon.