Andrea Molberg
Remember Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poem that reads, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways?” SaddleBrooke is asking the same thing about Desert Life Pharmacy, Senior Village, and a host of about 500 volunteers. Words aren’t nearly enough to thank each and every one of you.
Because of the huge vaccination project spearheaded by Desert Life pharmacist and owner, Brianne Spaeth; Senior Village executive director, Linda Hampton; and Senior Village board chair, David Loendorf, we residents have renewed hope and even a spring in our steps. We feel less vulnerable. We can hug family; I just cuddled my granddaughter born during COVID.
In and around SaddleBrooke, I’m hearing, “I’m thrilled to have gotten the shots.” “Can’t believe so many were vaccinated so quickly.” “It’s amazing what they did.”
Thanking his Senior Village team of hardworking volunteers, Ed Kula said, “Who would have predicted that we would spend three months combating a viral threat? Residents continue to express their gratitude. We’re on our way to spending more time with family and friends because of our combined efforts.”
As of April 3, over 17,500 doses of Moderna and J&J had been administered entirely by volunteers in SaddleBrooke, at SaddleBrooke Ranch, and in the pharmacy. Pharmacist Brianne told me 119 medical volunteers from both SaddleBrooke and the Ranch, 53 pharmacy students from the U of A, and 17 federal immunizers were involved, along with pharmacy staff, HOA patrols, the sheriff’s department, and Senior Village volunteers.
“We are all proud to have organized this mega effort and achieved the goal of making the vaccine available to the SaddleBrooke community. The smiles and words of gratitude let us know how much our hundreds of volunteers are appreciated,” said Senior Village’s board member, Stephanie Thomas.
According to Desert Life Pharmacy’s website, “Customer service is our number one priority, and our employees take pride in going above and beyond to ensure the best possible experience.” They proved it.
Senior Village volunteers are certainly neighbors helping neighbors. David Loendorf created the database program to organize and track the process every week, while others led, trained, and coordinated teams of volunteers who deserve high praise. As Maureen Spence told her team, “It was countless hours of your time and work that made these vaccinations possible.”
We say thanks for registering 7800+ residents for Saturday clinics, updating the vaccination website, creating the weekly shot roster and assigning individual appointment times for each registered person, phoning to advise residents of their appointment times, answering messages and calls, and uploading each shot recipient’s name after the clinics.
Thanks for arriving early on Saturday mornings to fill hundreds of syringes, transport supplies, administer shots, and provide transportation to and from the clinic. Thanks for managing traffic, working at the drive-up checkpoints, reviewing documents, providing missing consent forms, photocopying Medicare cards, and assessing and monitoring recovery times for adverse reactions. Thanks for photographing and documenting the Saturday events and keeping us informed.
How blessed we are to have such good neighbors.
What are the many ways we can show our gratitude? Smile, greet your neighbors, inspire others with the story of the community effort here, pay it forward, frequent the Desert Life Pharmacy for masks/cold remedies/prescriptions, and donate time or money to Senior Village’s wonderful work. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!