A new year is upon us!

I know that I am not alone when I say that I am bidding a less than fond farewell to the year that was 2020. As a global community, we have experienced some unique and difficult challenges. Our health, and the health of others has been at the forefront of our minds. Many of us have spent countless hours keeping up with the latest health information. We have become a global community of self-educated scientists, all in an effort keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. 2020 has changed how we view the world at large, and has profoundly impacted the way we live our day to day lives.

The same is true for many organizations both globally and locally. SKIP, like others, has adapted and changed the services and programs we offer in an effort to continue to serve the seniors of the community. While we were unable to facilitate visits between students and seniors this year, we were proud of our many initiatives that were developed to serve those experiencing loneliness and social isolation as the result of Covid-19.

We are proud to continue to offer "Buzz Me" a call service for seniors wishing to engage in friendly chats with a volunteer in their community. We have been thrilled to train several volunteers who are students from Wilfrid Laurier University. Both students and seniors are experiencing the unique benefits of engaging in meaningful ways with a different generation over the phone. We have seen sweet fruit from this program and can report that Buzz Me has helped many seniors living isolation to experience more social connection through this line. Isolated seniors can reach Buzz Me by dialling 1-866-999-Buzz Monday through Friday between 8am and 8pm or can book a wellness call through the booking calendar on our website at www.goskip.org/booking-calendar. The feedback form seniors has been positive and several seniors are becoming regular callers.

We were also proud to collaborate with businesses in the community such as Brantford Surplus and Chanel Merchants to provide wellness care items to many seniors in the community who might not have received a gift this Christmas. Children from local schools contributed kind messages and cards, making the wellness kits truly heartfelt and special.

As we look ahead to 2021, we are excited to continue the momentum that we built in in the past year. We will be focusing on several projects within the first few months of the year including extending the reach of Buzz Me in the community and increasing student engagement along with University partnership opportunities that will bring more students and seniors together. As more and more care facilities adapt and increase digital technology to increase senior capacity to connect to the outside world, SKIP will be focusing on the educational programs like SKIP Streams and SKIP Into Technology which support senior living communities and schools use this technology and provide opportunities for both seniors and students to connect. In 2021, we will also focus on SKIP In A Box, which is the organization's toolkit designed to bring SKIP into more communities.

We have many things to look forward to in the coming months. Through we cannot predict the future, we look forward to navigating whatever lies ahead of us with energy, passion, creative solutions and most of all-with the needs of seniors in mind.

Bring on 2021.

With love,

Tina