LAKE PLACID — Mercy Care for the Adirondacks is recruiting new volunteers and has scheduled a Friendship Volunteer Training Program in Lake Placid on May 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There is no cost for the training but registration is required. Complementary lunch will be provided. To register for the training, visit Mercy Care’s website at www.adkmercy.org or contact Katherine Rhodes, Mercy Care’s elder care manager, at krhodes@adkmercy.org or call 518-523-5585.

New volunteers will join Mercy Care’s nearly 100 friendship volunteers from Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and surrounding areas who are helping elder neighbors stay connected to their communities and helping to make their lives a little easier and happier. Volunteers of all faiths are encouraged and invited to participate.

“The pandemic has only amplified the need some elders in our community have for the joy and companionship of a kind and compassionate friendship volunteer to help ease their isolation and loneliness,” said Melissa Eisinger, Mercy Care’s board president.

Mercy Care is experiencing many new requests from elders in this community who need friends and assistance to help them age in place more successfully. Mercy Care serves any older adult in need within its capacity.

Can you help?

Mercy Care receives requests for a friendship volunteer from elders themselves, their families, or friends, to help them with informal supports and ease their isolation and loneliness.

Volunteers will learn about offering friendship and assistance to elders in sessions on healthy aging, spirituality and aging, companionship and community resources available for elders. New volunteers will hear from experienced Mercy Care friendship volunteers who find purposeful service to their elder friends to be meaningful in their own lives. Mercy Care friendship volunteers provide social care such as assistance with grocery shopping, transportation to medical appointments or social outings, or visiting with an elder in their home.

Mercy Care invites anyone in the Tri-Lakes region, Au Sable Forks, Keene or other surrounding communities interested in becoming a Mercy Care Friendship Volunteer to take the training in Lake Placid. Mercy Care is seeking to extend its friendship volunteer assistance program in the Au Sable Forks, Keene Valley, Keene, Wilmington and Jay communities.

The mission of Mercy Care for the Adirondacks, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, is to “extend mercy to elders living in the community in order to enhance the fullness of their lives and help them age in place more successfully.”

Mercy Care for the Adirondacks is governed by a local board of directors and relies solely on grants and charitable gifts from individuals, businesses and foundations for its support. Mercy Care’s services are provided free of charge.