CLAREMONT — Chore Corps, a volunteer group with The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Volunteer Center, is looking for volunteers with kind hearts and strong backs. Each summer, the group gets calls for help to install air conditioners for older adults and people with chronic health conditions. Some can’t afford to hire someone, and others are vulnerable to fraud.
While summer means barbecues, bicycling, or the beach for some, for others it can mean increased risk for heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Certain medications or chronic diseases make it harder for the body to self-regulate temperature. Hot and humid days often make it difficult for people with respiratory or heart disease to breathe. Something as simple as an air conditioner can help someone stay out of the hospital, if there’s a volunteer to help install it, according to a press release from The RSVP Volunteer Center, which serves Serving Grafton & Sullivan Counties.
To volunteer, donate working air conditioners, or make a Chore Corps request in Grafton or Sullivan Counties, call The RSVP Volunteer Center at (877) 711-7787. RSVP recruits, screens, matches, and supports volunteers aged 55 and older in a variety of activities, including home delivered meals, telephone reassurance, and more. RSVP never charges clients for services.
In recent years, excessive heat has caused more deaths than all other weather events, including floods. RSVP volunteers recommend that everyone take weather warnings seriously. In addition to elders and those with chronic illnesses, people working outdoors, athletes, small children, people with mental illness, the obese, and pets are also susceptible. RSVP recommends reaching out to isolated family and neighbors, finding out about “cooling shelters” in local areas, and learning how to prevent, recognize, and treat heat-related illnesses.
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