Stephanie Thomas
January 9, 2021, will be remembered as a day of long-awaited celebration in SaddleBrooke. After thousands of hours of coordinated preparation, over 200 volunteers began the COVID-19 vaccination blitz of over 7,600 residents in our community registered as of February 5, 2021. As of February 5, 2021, more than 3,400 residents have been vaccinated in the SaddleBrooke community.
Every successful campaign begins with the words “We can…” spoken with deep commitment to a common cause. As a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of SaddleBrooke residents, Senior Village stepped forward to utter those words of determination, and thus began an incredible, amazing, exhausting, thrilling campaign.
The project was off and running with the formation of a partnership between Senior Village and Brianne Spaeth, owner of Desert Life Pharmacy. Soon she received her first supply of Moderna doses. A sense of anticipation and hopefulness can be felt in the air every Saturday when hundreds of designated residents line up on Desert Bluff Drive awaiting their turn in the queue.
It’s impossible in this limited space to mention individually all the enthusiastic volunteers who are contributing time and talents to protect their neighbors from the threat of COVID-19. The following organizers are responsible for tasks of major development and ongoing coordination of volunteers and residents.
* David Loendorf, President of Senior Village: Developed a complex program to keep track of thousands of registered residents and included robo calling and group texting functions; manages the database
* Linda Hampton, Executive Director of Senior Village: Created the master plan of committees and works with those chairpersons every step of the way, interfaces with multiple local and county agencies, fields hundreds of calls to offer assurance and information
* Brianne Spaeth: Created a network of medical personnel from throughout Tucson: nursing students, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists including SaddleBrooke residents. These volunteers prepare syringes, give shots, check medical forms, and observe patients in the post-vaccination area
* Karen Jahn, Judy Cummings: Coordinate supplies such as flags, cones, vests, badges, medical items
* Mardie Toney, Carol Kiker, Stephanie Thomas: Manage on-site volunteers at the clinic
* Sandy Morse: Enlists non-medical personnel to monitor the pre-clinic queue and recovery area
* Jet George: Organizes over 200 volunteers to make individual phone calls informing residents of assigned vaccine dates and times
* Lois Violanti, Rod Hutton: Enter thousands of residents’ information into the database
* Ed Kula: Coordinates traffic control volunteers to direct drivers to/from clinic area
* Silke Bender: Schedules drivers to shuttle volunteers to/from SaddleBrooke TWO parking area and arranging transportation for residents who are not able to drive
In addition to these primary Senior Village organizers, SaddleBrooke extends sincere appreciation to the hundreds of energetic volunteers who are making this project so successful and to our residents for their support of this enormous joint effort. Because of each one of you, we can all look forward to a healthier, hopeful year among friends.