Simon Drop, Volunteer Program Assistant
At Little Brothers- Friends of the Elderly, we have a Highlight of the Week series where we shine a spotlight on members of the LBFE community including board members, older adults, volunteers, students, staff, CitySites (and more!) to learn about them and their experiences with LBFE. This week’s highlight is of one of our Volunteer Program Assistants (VPA), Simon Drop. Simon has successfully completed a year of service with LBFE through World Horizons and left yesterday to go back to Germany! He was asked to share a little about himself and his experience with LBFE this year.
Please describe your role as a VPA and what inspired you to serve with LBFE this year.
As a Volunteer Program Assistant, I spent most of my time during the week at our CitySites Program. Everyday I go to different homes for the elderly and try to involve seniors in social conversations, board games, and other activities. My goal is to connect elders with their neighbors and to build relationships between them and myself. During my year many people asked me how I found out about Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly and why I am volunteering with seniors.
I knew about Little Brothers because of my sister, Luisa. She did a volunteer service with Little Brothers in Chicago in 2015. During her year we Skyped a lot and in a way, she had inspired me so much, that I applied for a service as well only 2 years later.
Why Seniors? In Germany I lived in house with my parents and my grandma together. I always spent a lot of time with her and we helped each other out. She cooked me delicious meals and I took her grocery shopping or to medical appointments. So why not spend a year with seniors abroad? You can learn from them and they can learn from you.
What would you say was your biggest personal accomplishment and biggest professional accomplishment this year?
My biggest personal accomplishment was improving my English skills. Now I feel confident to have a conversation with native English speakers or even a discussion. The English skills I picked up makes traveling easier and allows you to communicate with millions of people.
My biggest professional accomplishment was the Thanksgiving Party at the Hyatt Hotel. After a few weeks of organizing the event you see the result in the eyes of the seniors at the Thanksgiving Party. They had so much fun and were so happy to be there. Weeks after the party the seniors were still talking about how great it was. That was an amazing experience.
If you had 30 seconds to describe why intergenerational programs are important, what would you say?
– Win win for seniors and young people
– Both generations learn about situations through each others eyes
– In the end people treat each other with more respect
– Helps to build a community everybody can benefit from
What were your top 3 favorite memories of this year at LBFE?
The Thanksgiving party is one of my best memories with LBFE. We all had a delicious turkey meal. We danced a lot. We just had an awesome Thanksgiving party. I also have a smile in my face when I think about CitySites. All the nice seniors I met. They helped me with the language and we played fun board games for hours. The taught me about American history, culture and politics. They told me where I have to travel to get an impression of the diversity of the whole country. Later I showed them the pictures I took there and they were happy that I had the chance to follow their advice. Sometimes I did not see the seniors for a while and then when we got together the next time we gave us all a big hug.
How has your time at LBFE prepared you for your next steps? Where are you headed next?
Over the year I gained a lot of confidence to welcome strangers or to start conversations out of the blue. I improved my people skills and that will help me for my new job.
In October I will start as a district manager at ALDI in Germany combined with a Master Degree in International Retail Management.
We at LBFE want to thank Simon for all of his hard work and dedication to our programs, elders, and volunteers this year! He will be very missed and we wish him the best of luck in all he does in the future!
Remember to check out next week’s blog to see who will be highlighted then!
If you want to stay updated on what we do at LBFE, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.