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Living Life After 50
Allen County edition ReAChing FoRt WAyne And SuRRounding CountieS
January 2026
Vol. 38, No. 9
STOCKING THE SHELVES — Joyce Wood volunteers for Community Harvest Food Bank four days a week. She helps stock the Community Cupboard.
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CATS AND CUDDLES — Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control volunteer Jerri Martin cuddles a cat at the shelter where she volunteers.
Local volunteers find purpose, connection Text and Photos By CINDY LARSON Feature Writer After the hoopla of the holidays subsides, the quietness of January settles in. Once the presents are put away and the decorations are down, you might find yourself looking for something to do.
How about volunteering? Whatever your interests and capabilities, you likely will find a volunteer activity you will enjoy. Even better, you can revel in the fact that you are making the world a better place. If you don’t know where to start, visit the Volunteer Center at volunteerfortwayne.
org. People can register online. The center partners with more than 140 organizations. One can stop by its office at 3401 Lake Ave., Suite 4, Fort Wayne, or call (260) 424-3505. If you’re housebound, you can still volunteer by sending letters and cards to nursing home residents, veterans and hospice patients.
If you’re crafty, you can knit scarves, hats and mittens, decorate paper bags for the Franciscan Center’s sack lunches, or make dog treats for animals at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control. Jerri Martin, 72, has chosen to spend her time volunteering at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control. She has “done a
little bit of everything” over her 20 years of volunteering. She started out doing dog washes. Now she does cat care one morning a week for two to four hours. She cleans out crates, empties litter boxes, and makes sure the cats have fresh water, food and clean bedding. And she plays and cuddles. Continued on page 2