TUSTIN : City Rewards Center for Work by Seniors

The way Councilman Jeffrey Thomas sees it, when you a need a job done right, rely on the city’s senior citizens.

Thomas was referring to a 9-month-old program that has volunteers from the Tustin Area Senior Center stuffing and mailing the city’s water bills. In recognition of their efforts, the council recently approved a $3,800 donation to the senior center.

“They’re reliable and they work real hard,” Thomas said of the senior volunteers. “I think that’s a great thing for the city. I wish we would utilize seniors more. It saves the city money and helps the city out.

“And they’ve gotten the bills out on time, too,” Thomas added.

The idea for the volunteer mailing program arose after the city experienced difficulties with an outside vendor, Finance Director Ronald A. Nault said. But since the seniors took over the task in October, there hasn’t been a single complaint from water customers.

“The senior volunteers take their job quite seriously and are very conscientious about their work,” he said, adding that the center also benefits because of the city donation.

Recreation Supervisor Randy Westrick estimated that about four or five seniors working for six hours are able to mail out 2,000 bills each week. “That’s a lot of work they do,” Westrick said.

Senior Center Director Melissa O’Neal said the volunteer program was initially seen as an interim measure “to buy time until we got a new vendor.” But the volunteer effort will continue indefinitely.

“We didn’t think it was going to be so successful,” O’Neal said. “It’s so easy for these people to do, and they do it so well. And they love doing it. They really get a kick out of coming.”

O’Neal said money received by the center for the volunteer work helps offset the cost of providing outreach counseling services to seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The funding also supports a counseling group that focuses on the challenges of growing older.

The senior volunteers organize themselves, O’Neal said, with some working for long stretches of time and others working for an hour or so until their hands and eyes start to tire.

“Today they’re just slamming,” O’Neal said Monday, noting that some of the seniors wanted to finish the job early so they could get out of town for the Fourth of July weekend.

The water bill mailing program is just one example of how seniors help out in Tustin, O’Neal said.

“The senior center is only possible because of volunteers,” she said, pointing out that they answer phones, cook food for a nutritional program and visit shut-ins. Seniors also donate time to the Tustin Police Department, where they help out with record-keeping and work as crossing guards.

“I think they’re terrific,” said Councilman Thomas. “I really do.”