A Friend in Need Sandy Hefty 1 Loretta Olson sometimes gets confused and does some pretty bizarre things

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A Friend in Need Sandy Hefty 1 Loretta Olson sometimes gets confused and does some pretty bizarre things. For instance, sometimes she puts her ice cream in the refrigerator instead of the freezer, and sometimes she feeds her cat chocolate chips instead of cat food. You see, Loretta is an 85-year-old woman who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. She was preceded in death by her husband and only child and now is trying to live on her own the best that she can. You may be wondering how somebody as confused as Loretta could possibly keep living on her own, but she does. 2 During my freshman year, I volunteered six hours a week to help Loretta remain independent in her home. Due to the forgetfulness associated with Alzheimer’s disease, my main duty as a volunteer was to help Loretta with her cooking and house cleaning, which she often forgot to finish on her own. 3 Since I started volunteering time with Loretta, I’ve learned that there are millions of elderly Americans who need help to remain independent in their homes. According to the United States Census Bureau, our elderly population is the fastest growing segment in the nation. This trend is even seen in my class survey, in which all but two of you said you have living grandparents and seven of you said you have grandparents living alone. 4 Although the elderly are no longer the poorest segment of American society, according to the Poverty and Wealth Branch of the United States Census Bureau, 1.8 million Americans in the 75-plus age group fall below the poverty line. One point eight million—that’s roughly the populations of Seattle, Indianapolis, and Boston combined. 5 Today, I would like to persuade each of you to help solve the problems facing more advanced and less fortunate elderly Americans by volunteering time to help them remain independent in their homes. Let’s begin by addressing the problems that can occur among this group of people. 6 There are two problems that can occur when elderly people living alone do not get the companionship and care they need. The first problem is that elderly people may not be able to meet all of their physical needs. Before I met Loretta, I was a caregiver for an 87-year-old woman who suffered from arthritis. This woman often needed help buttoning her blouse and tying her shoes, as well as needing help cutting vegetables for meals and doing light house cleaning. This is not unusual for many people of advanced age. Like Loretta, they can continue living at home, but need help with certain physical tasks such as house cleaning, food preparation, and transportation. 7 Not only is there the problem of elderly people not meeting all of their physical needs, but there is a second, more tragic problem that can occur. That second problem is suicide. According to the National Center for Vital Statistics, persons age 75 and older have the highest rate of suicide compared to all other age groups. Anthony Boxwell, author of the article entitled “Geriatric Suicide: The Preventable Death,” says that suicide among the elderly stems from three main causes— helplessness, hopelessness and haplessness. Helplessness describes the feelings of impotence some elderly people feel after retirement or upon realizing they’re losing their physical and mental vigor. Hopelessness is associated with depression caused by the realization of the onset of old age. And haplessness refers to a series of repeated losses, such as loss of earnings, friends, and family. 8 Now that we have talked about the two major problems facing elderly people who do not get the companionship and care they need, let’s talk about what we can do to help solve these problems. 9 We as individuals can’t do everything, of course. Some responsibility lies with families, government, and charitable agencies. But there is something we can do, and that is get involved with a volunteer program that assists elderly people who need help living at home. Here in Wisconsin, we have a Community Options Program, which is an individually tailored financial assistance method to help keep the elderly and people with disabilities out of nursing homes. Right here in Madison, Independent Living has a Friendly Visiting Program in which volunteers provide companionship and household assistance for elderly people who live at home. You can contact Independent Living by calling the number on this handout, which I will be giving you after my speech. 10 Now I’m sure you have some questions about this kind of work. For instance, how much time does it take? It takes as much time as you want to put into it. You can volunteer as little as one to two hours a week or as many as forty hours a week. You decide how much time you want to volunteer based on your own schedule. But no matter how much time you spend, you will certainly experience great personal gratification. I know I have. I have been a volunteer for six years, and volunteering time with people who are less fortunate than I makes me feel good about myself. Volunteering time with the elderly has also taught me unique ethnic traditions, as well as American history. 11 You should also know that this kind of volunteer work can have benefits for you beyond feelings of personal gratification. Some volunteer organizations such as the state-run Community Options Program and the federally funded Title 19 Program offer financial assistance to people who participate. This can run from reimbursement of your travel expenses to an actual salary for certain kinds of work. 12 In closing, I am urging you to volunteer time to help needy elderly people remain independent in their homes. Remember that spending time with elderly people living alone can help them meet their physical and emotional needs. You can adjust the time spent to fit your needs, you can get great personal gratification, and you can even receive monetary benefits as well. But most important, Loretta Olson—and millions like her—will be forever thankful for your efforts. Comm 101- Nickel Persuasive Speech - Sample Outline Format Monroe’s Motivated Sequence General Purpose: Specific Purpose: Thesis: Organizational Pattern: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Title Introduction I. Attention Step A. Provide a statement or method to gain the attention of the audience. B. Reveal the topic/issue of your speech. 1. Build curiosity/arouse interest of the audience. 2. Establish common ground with the audience. C. Establish your qualifications/credibility. D. Preview your main points/give the thesis of your speech/focus the audience’s attention on the content of your speech. Connective Statement: Body II. Showing the Need A. Provide a statement of need/problem for action. After all, this is why the organization exists, right? 1. Provide the description of the problem. 2. Provide signs, symptoms, and effects of the problem. B. Provide a statement showing the significance of the need. 1. Provide details that indicate the extent of the problem. 2. Make sure to provide research citations within the outline. a. APA style requires authors to use the past tense or present perfect tense when using signal phrases to describe earlier research. b. Here’s an example: Jones (2010) found or Jones (2010) has found Connective Statement: III. Satisfying the Need A. Statement of Solution or Proposed Plan that satisfies the need: This is where you insert your purpose for the speech. You are speaking to get the audience to donate fill-in-the-blank. That is your solution to fix the problems in the Need Step. B. Provide the details of the solution or plan. 1. Provide details how the plan can be implemented. a. Step 1 of how the plan can be implemented. b. Step 2 of how the plan can be implemented. 2. You may include as many additional supporting details as needed. Connective Statement: IV. Visualization A. Statement indicating how the listeners fit into the solution. 1. Provide details here. 2. Provide details here. B. Statement indicating how the solution affects or touches the listener. 1. Provide details on the benefits of audience action. 2. Provide further details on the benefits of audience action. C. Explain the consequences of inaction to the listener/audience. What will happen if listeners choose NOT to donate? 1. Describe the consequences of inaction. 2. Describe the consequences of inaction. Conclusion V. Requesting Action: Provide a statement that commits the audience to act. A. Statement indicating the action requested B. Summary or review of main ideas C. Final appeal or push for action; use a statement which ends in a memorable way. Attached to this outline will be your references in APA format. Persuasive Speech Topic Worksheet (10 points) Directions: 1. This assignment is similar to the one you did for the Informative Speech. Use the Power Points provided for the Informative Speech Topic Worksheet as a reference to complete this assignment. This assignment serves as a foundation to build on for your persuasive speech. 2. This must be typed. Include the information typed below when answering. 3. Please use complete sentences when answering. 1. Provide the Full Name of the Non-profit Organization you are advocating for (2pt.): The Non-profit Organization I will be advocating for is Misericordia Home 2. The General Purpose Statement (2pt.): I want to persuade my audience members on how they can volunteer their time at Misericordia Home. 3. The Specific Purpose Statement (3pt.): By the end of my speech I want my audience to donate their time, money, and or items to the Misericordia Home. 4. The Thesis Statement (3pts.): In this speech I am going to try and persuade my audience members to be part of Misericordia Home’s mission in helping people with disabilities by donating their time and or money. 5. Bonus: How many sources must you use in your speech and in what format must they be written? (2 pts.) Four sources were used and they have to be in APA format.