BOCES’ Kids Warm Up Veterans at Nursing Home

A group of Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES students looked like family visitors as they sat around tables chatting with elderly veterans wrapped in warm felt scarves at the New York State Veterans Affairs Nursing Home in Montrose last Thursday morning. To some veterans, they were family.

“For the people with Alzheimer’s or dementia, they think they are their grandkids,” said Edward Kloos, a Chaplain and Director of Recreation, Volunteers and Pastoral Care.

Kloos explained that, as sad as it sounds, it is good for the residents as some of them do not have any real grandkids to visit, and others rarely see their family. Kloos coordinated the visit with BOCES teachers Abigail Gehan and Meredith Markolovic, who run the BOCES Leadership Club and organized the trip through Skills USA program. Thursday was the club’s second visit this year to bring homemade scarves to the disabled veterans.

They brought 9 students who delivered about 60-80 scarves to many of the nursing home’s 252 residents.

Resident Peter Piccolo, 85, was eager to talk to students and was gracious with compliments for Kloos’ work at the home. As for his feelings on his new turquoise scarf, he could not have been happier.

“I love it and I need it. I have to wear it because my throat hurts,” Piccolo said.

Nearby fellow resident Rudolph Bernat sat with students Savanna DeStefano, of Mahopac, and Anthony Rueda, of Yorktown.

“It is nice to see them because we usually sit around and watch tv. It gets disgusting to watch so much tv,” said Bernat, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who lived with his wife in Yorktown before she died 18 years ago. His family visits once a week, more or less, but he said he always appreciates extra visitors.

Students chatted with Bernat for a while and said they enjoyed listening to him tell his stories.

“It’s the same four walls, same people, same food all the time for them…Young people are like Christmas for them,” Kloos said.

Pointing to a man in a red hat surrounded by kids, Kloos said “Red’s wife is dying of cancer and he has no one to visit him.” Visitors make a big difference to people like Red, who kept his head down most of the time, because he has no one else with which to have one on one time, other than the staff who he sees everyday.

Volunteers make a big difference for the nursing home staff as well. Kloos said the state funded home would suffer a third funding cut soon. The first two meant staff reductions and have forced Kloos to wear more Director hats. As he took on the responsibility of volunteer Director, Kloos started reaching out to every organization in the area to try to get visitors and volunteers.  He has extended his hours and said he is doing the best he can to make his residents happy.

 “I will do anything to make them smile,” Kloos said.

And the two dozen seniors meeting with the students were smiling last week as they said goodbye to their young visitors and held on to their new scarves.

To Volunteer at the State Veterans Affairs Nursing Home contact the home at 914-788-6000

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