Members of the Golden Tornado hockey team from Butler, Pa., recently spent an evening visiting and playing games with Memory Care residents from Tanglewood Manor and Memory Garden at the facility’s Jamestown campus. Volunteering for the Tanglewood Group was a break in the routine for the team, which was in town attending their annual hockey development camp at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena.

According to Patrick Hammond, Tornado coach, the hockey program places a great deal of emphasis on the holistic development of the players.

“We seek to develop them as people, (improve) their hockey skills and also support them academically,” he said. “We encourage them to be active in the community so that they can understand community values and how wonderful it is to help others.”

For more information about the Golden Tornado hockey program, visit butlerhockey.net.

“We love having volunteers come and work with our residents,” said Hannah Grable, Tanglewood Manor’s Memory Unit case manager, who coordinated the visit. “They really enjoy interacting with the community and get a real kick out of the young athletes.”

Grable has been working to develop relationships with more organizations who are interested in volunteering at the Tanglewood Group, and welcomes inquiries about volunteer opportunities. She believes that volunteers are not only valuable to the facility’s programs, helping to keep residents active and stimulated; they are also helping to change the general public’s view on aging and memory loss.

“Somewhere along the line, a stigma was formed with the idea of growing old and having ‘nothing to look forward to’ and the forgetful are forgotten,” she said. “Here at Tanglewood we would like to change that perspective one volunteer at a time and provide an experience to learn by that will be valuable for the rest of their lives, and foster communicable skills to carry with them wherever they may go professionally or personally.”

The Tanglewood Group has been offering quality care to seniors in the greater Jamestown area for over 30 years. For more information about Volunteering, Memory Care or any of the other Tanglewood Group offerings, call 483-2876.