The Peninsula Seniors is a large volunteer group that several of our members belong to. Although we currently have twenty-one (click here for list) of their members reporting to our organisation, the Peninsula Seniors has a total membership of well over 1700 on its books. Regular activities include talks and lectures on a wide variety of subjects; organising trips to points of interest (both locally and throughout the States); and monthly showings of current films among many other things. I was hoping to meet as many of these RSVP members as possible during my visit and Managing Director, Karen Gularte, thought that a good time to do this would be at the Newsletter mailing session that they hold at their facility each month.

	RSVP member, Phyllis King, was already hard at work folding the sixteen page newsletters so that they would be ready for mailing. She told me that although her husband, John, wouldn't be present that day, he has been an RSVP member since 1984 and acumulated a stupendous total of 13,920 hours as a volunteer for our organisation since that time - truly a memorable accomplishment.
While I was talking to Phyllis, another of our RSVP members, Suzanne Curran, arrived. As well as helping at the front desk, Suzanne is heavily involved in making blankets for "Project Linus" at Harbor General Hospital. These blankets are given to children who are undergoing chemotherapy at the hospital, as well as other traumatized children who have have to be removed from homes in the middle of the night before going into foster care.
	Suzanne said that there were about twenty people involved in this endeavor and that they also make hats and booties for the newborns at the hospital. Another thing that they do is to make up layette sets for premmie babies. These are also given to some mothers when it is noticed that they have little to go home with after giving birth. Harbor General has also found that these layettes are a great incentive to give out to mothers-to-be who attend their pre-natal classes. Suzanne stressed that they are always happy to get any skeins of light colored wool to help with this project so be sure to contact her if you have any to spare.
Ken Dyda is the President of the organisation and, although he is not currently a member of RSVP, he said that he would be getting in touch with the office after I told him that we are always on the lookout for new recruits. Ken would certainly be a worthy member of RSVP as he already puts in over 2,000 hours of volunteer work each year. As well as his work with the Peninsula Seniors, his activities also involve the local School District Citizen's Oversight Committee; being a Mediator for the City of RPV; an Advisor to the Aviation Explorer Post and a member of General Plan Update Committee. It's plainly obvious that he really enjoys volunteering and says with enthusiasm that "It definitely gives you a reason to get up in the morning"!
	I meet with Ken Dyda and Karen Gularte
	As we departed I passed the front desk and met with RSVP member, Connie Iacupino. Connie spends every Wednesday doing various clerical duties at the office and has been active in this function for the past five years. She told me that she does some statistical work while she's there, along with creating "Thank You" letters etc. Connie also spends Fridays in the Seniors Office at the Torrance YMCA. It was only a year ago that she finally found out about RSVP and immediately signed up as a member.
As you can see below, there are a great number of items that this organisation is active in and a more detailed listing can be found in the Newsletter that they publish on the Web at www.palosverdes.com/pvseniors/
However, I am hoping that this article might also help to persuade more of the 1700+ Peninsula Seniors membership to contact our own RSVP office - they are already doing the kind of work that we are all involved with. Mind you, we might have to hold our next Awards Banquet in a larger facility if they do!