My Adopt an Elder! posting on Witchvox has led to some interesting questions arriving in my email. One person asked, “How do we find an Elder to adopt?†My first thought was, “Go to the Witchvox listings for your State, Province, or Nation.†They certainly have a lot of them! Once you know who your local covens, lodges, temples, groves, etc. are, then you can contact them to see if there are Pagan seniors or Elders in the area who might need help.
Another way would be to run the name of some of your favorite Pagan Elders through Witchvox or Google to see what news there is of them. For example, a Google search on “Ray Buckland†will eventually take you to his website. At the bottom of the front page you’ll find a note mentioning casually that he had quintuple heart-bypass surgery recently. Got any ideas of how much that probably cost him? Even if he has medical insurance (which is unlikely, since he is, after all, a Pagan author), his months of recovery are going to cut into his writing and speaking, and thus his income. Try this with a few of your favorite Pagan Elders and see what you can discover about who might need some help.
A suggestion that was brought up was for groups to collectively adopt an Elder. I know our local UU congregation of some 50 people or so have successfully kept a single mother and her kids off the streets for a few years now. There are plenty of Pagan groups of 40-50 members, or local networks of students or former students of Pagan teachers, who could jointly adopt someone in need.
How can people help best? I hate to say it but cold, hard, cash is the major thing most seniors need, however much they might want to be independent. Just putting money in an envelope and slipping it under their door or mailing it off to their PO box will improve their lives. Many Pagan seniors, like other seniors, have to choose between rent and medications, between paying the gas and electric bills or the telephone bills. Your anonymous gift can help a senior pay both when they fear being unable to pay anything.
Cash aside, gifts of jams and jellies, baked goods, homemade soaps and such can make Elders feel loved and appreciated (and lower their grocery bills). If you know they have pets, bring over some dog or catfood. If you know they have years of notes and correspondance sitting in boxes, go over and give them a few hours of sorting and filing time. There are many ways we can make our Pagan seniors and Elders feel better and show them our appreciation for the lives they have dedicated to our movements.
This item restored 12/14/05.