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Notre Dame Senior
Alumni (NDSA)
http://www.ndsenioralumni.org/
Background
Goals
and Objectives
Initiatives/Programs
-
Golden Domers Luncheon
-
Tax Assistance Program (TAP)
-
Prostate
Awareness Cancer Education (PACE)
-
Corporate Volunteer Program
-
Student Career Mentoring
Program
-
Hospital Ministry Program
-
Diocesan Professional Assistance Program
-
God, Country, Notre Dame
Contacts
Background
The Notre Dame Alumni
Association organized NDSA to serve the needs of senior alumni and
friends, ages 55 and older, with particular emphasis on community
service activities. NDSA has been organized in a manner such that it is
integrated into the Association’s alumni club and class network and
fosters renewed commitment from senior members of the Notre Dame family
to the Gospel teachings, which are rooted in our Judeo-Christian
responsibility and action. The programs and service efforts support and
are inclusive of all members of the alumni network regardless of age,
race, creed or gender, and in no way are exclusive of this network, or
its membership. The Association has found that as alumni enter into the
senior age bracket, for a variety of reasons, many tend to become less
active in traditional alumni programs. NDSA assists alumni clubs and
class leaders in developing events, activities, and programs of special
interest to seniors, but open to all alumni and friends.
Goals and Objectives
-
Engage senior alumni
and friends in meaningful community service through club sponsored and
class sponsored activities.
-
Enhance opportunities
for senior alumni and friends to reunite with long lost colleagues.
-
Promote senior
volunteer service that creates an awareness of the primary role our
Christian faith plays in our lives.
-
Provide avenues for
senior alumni and friends to effect positive change within their
communities.
-
Enable senior alumni
and friends to utilize their talents, skills and education to enhance
the lives of others.
-
Encourage senior
alumni and friends to engage in the six (C’s) of Alumni Association
program development:
-
Camaraderie
-
Community Service
-
Continuing Education
-
Catholic/Christian spirituality
-
Current student support
-
Communication
-
Respond to the
growing population of senior alumni and friends to assure adequate
representation within the Alumni Association and active participation
in future alumni programming.
-
Continue to develop
programs that remain responsive to the changing needs of the senior
population.
In
addition, numerous clubs have begun activities, projects and programs
which have appealed to senior alumni. Some examples:
-
Regular
breakfast meetings
-
Providing
architectural services to a local library
-
Mentoring
grade school and high school students
-
Regularly
working at food banks
-
Preparing
meals for the homeless and underprivileged
-
International group travel
-
Providing
consulting services to the Archdiocese
-
Providing
a life skills course for recovering addicts
Initiatives/Programs
The NDSA Board of
Directors has developed detailed plans and guidelines for suggested
programs for clubs and/or classes.
Golden
Domers Luncheon
The Notre Dame Club of
Minnesota welcomes all alumni to attend its monthly Golden Domer
luncheons. The luncheons are held on the third Thursday of
each month at 12:00 Noon at the:
Knights of Columbus Hall
1114 W. America Blvd. (formerly 79th Street)
Bloomington, MN
952-888-1492
If you have any
questions, please contact John McShane (’68) at
goldendomers@ndmn.org.
Tax Assistance Program (TAP)
Minnesota TAP Link
Through the Tax Assistance Program, each tax season, Notre Dame Alumni
prepare returns for eligible families across the country. This program
insures the receipt of the earned tax credit and other tax credits for
those who might not otherwise realize the benefit. The TAP handbook can
be found at
http://alumni.nd.edu/commserv/tapnd.html . Other information
about NDSA involvement in this program is available at
http://ndsenior alumni.org/tap.html.
Prostate Awareness
Cancer Education (PACE)
NDSA
is assisting the Notre Dame Alumni Association in the
fight against Prostate Cancer through a program called PACE (Prostate
Awareness Cancer Education). The key focus for Notre Dame Clubs and
Classes is to promote informational awareness of the risks and the
importance of early detection of the disease. Clubs can provide
necessary prostate cancer education as well as education on other
cancers to their communities through organized seminars and partnering
with local hospitals. An important link for complete information on ways
your Club and Class can participate in this vital program is
http://ndsenioralumni.org/pace.html .
Corporate Volunteer Program
The NDSA Corporate Volunteer Program is offered to assist Notre Dame
Clubs in increasing their ability to support community service
programs. These corporate volunteer programs will reward their
employees and sometimes retirees who volunteer their time with
non-profit agencies with cash or products for the non-profit agencies.
Three corporations with such a program are State Farm Insurance,
Wachovia Bank, and IBM. For information about the State Farm program go
to
www.statefarm.com/foundati/foundati.htm . For the Wachovia
Foundation go to
www.wachovia.com and click on “Community Involvement” and
“Wachovia in our Community.” To obtain information about the IBM program
an IBM employee or retiree will have to log on to
https://www1.ibm.com/ibm/ondemandcommunity/home/index.jsp
.The NDSA website
www.ndsenioralumni.org contains a Guide for
Implementation of this program under the link Initiatives.
Student Career Mentoring Program
The major objective of the NDSA Student Career Mentoring Program is to
provide assistance to Notre Dame students in selecting careers,
developing career goals, and making the difficult transition from
college to the workplace. Students are matched with alumni mentors from
their local Notre Dame Club on a career basis. They develop a personal
relationship which involves setting and attaining mutual goals during
the course of the program which lasts at least one school year. Frequent
communication is maintained through personal guidance on career options,
goals and opportunities, provide encouragement during the academic
process, advise on developing career-related skills and confidence, and
share his/her experiences in the work place. A guideline for
implementation of the Student Career
http://ndsenioralumni.org/scmp.html
Hospital Ministry
Program
Minnesota Hospital Support Program
Link
The primary purpose of the Hospital Support Program is to provide
assistance to members of the Notre Dame family during their stays in
hospitals away from home. The program is made up of four parts:
1
Emergency Care
provides assistance to individuals who are hospitalized while traveling
through a club’s area. Club volunteers go to wherever the patient is
located and provide assistance until a loved one arrives. Usually this
support is brief and is a good activity for all clubs.
2
Care
supports caregivers and patients who come to a hospital in a club’s area
from a distant location for surgery or other procedures that have been
planned in advance. Club volunteers can help by sitting with patients,
providing the family with information on restaurants, lodging and
contacting Lay Ministers and Priests. This part of the program is only
suited for clubs with medical facilities in their areas to which
patients come for specialized surgery or treatments.
3
Long Term Care
provides support to patients who come to local hospitals, Assisted
Living Facilities, Nursing Homes and other personal service
organizations. Support primarily consists of periodic visits on a
regular basis and/or helping the organization in specific tasks.
4
Additional Care
supports individuals when they are in a local hospital and can also
expand to assisting the hospital and staff in a variety of ways.
The Hospital Support Program will provide a true Notre Dame National
Assistance Program. For additional information go to the NDSA website
and click on
http://ndsenioralumni.org/hospital.html .
Diocesan Professional
Assistance Program
The major objective of the Diocesan Professional
Assistance Program recently organized by NDSA is to provide professional
guidance and expertise by your Notre Dame Club primarily to the local
Catholic Diocese. An additional benefit of this initiative is its
transferability to other club non-profit organizations. Professional
assistance could be in the form of strategic planning, legal, tax,
accounting, etc. These projects will usually consist of a one-time
concentrated effort over a couple of weeks or months. This program will
be of special interest to those who prefer to volunteer their
professional assistance rather than hands-on assistance such as soup
kitchens, food distribution, etc. The potential projects are limited
only by the skill sets available from the pool of volunteers. The
Initiative link in the NDSA website
http://ndsenioralumni.org/Diocese.html will direct you
to complete information on initiating this initiative.
God, Country, Notre Dame
In support of the Alumni Association’s God, Country, Notre Dame
Initiative, NDSA sponsors the VA and Military Hospital Assistance
Program. Through this program alumni volunteers have the opportunity to
provide regular visitation, transportation, administrative,
professional, and/or other assistance to at least one of the 1,000+
facilities in the U.S.A list of VA centers, Volunteer guidelines and
opportunities, contacts and other information can be found at
www.va.gov/volunteer
. The list of Army and Air Force Hospitals is available at
www.theagapecenter.com/hospital/military.htm . Almost all
of the VA and Military Hospital facilities actively seek volunteers and
make it simple and easy for Clubs to begin an assistance program. NDSA
Link
http://ndsenioralumni.org/GCND.html
Contacts
If you have any
questions, please contact John McShane (’68) at
goldendomers@ndmn.org. For the National NDSA,
CLICK HERE
to go to the Contacts page or
Thomas Monaghan
Senior Director, Affinity Groups Alumni Association
100 Eck Visitors Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 631-2724
monaghan.1@nd.edu |
