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Friends of the Lexington Council on Aging

ANNUAL REPORT 

June 20, 2024

The 2023-2024 year ended on a sad note for the Friends of the Lexington Council on Aging. Our President, Peter B. Holland, passed away in April of 2024. Peter had a long and distinguished career in education, culminating in 20 years as the Superintendent of Belmont Public Schools. After his retirement, among other interests, Peter became involved with the FCOA and served as President from 2020 to 2024. He will be sorely missed.

The Friends of the Lexington Councilor Aging (FCOA) was founded in 1972 and became operational in 1973. A volunteer board of residents who work closely with the Town’s Human Services Department and Council on Aging to enrich the quality of life for Lexington’s older adults, FCOA helps fund critical services provided by the Human Services Department such as special lunches, age-sensitive counseling and recreation, out of town cultural trips, health and wellness programs, and affordable transportation. FCOA also provides the Older Wiser Lifelong Learning (OWLL) program and the Lexington LifeTimes creative arts journal. The longevity of these educational and creative programs indicates their significance in the lives of Lexington residents.

FCOA programs involve several areas of service, partially funded by an annual $20,000 FCOA gift to the Human Services Department.

  • Meals: In 2023-24, we subsidized 11 special Senior lunches serving 804 attendees
  • Transportation: Half of the Human Services FCOA funding subsidizes Lexpress (bus) and LexConnect (taxi) services to Seniors
  • Social Engagement, including:
    • Seven subsidized Coach trips with 243 participants to cultural programs in nearby New England sites
    • A one-year subscription to Netflix which enabled showing movies twice a month at the Community Center
    • Funds to purchase two new ping-pong tables for the Community Center
  • Enhanced cultural, creative, and intellectual environment for Lexington seniors:
    • 15 OWLL classes which provide learning opportunities on Zoom and in person for 346 participants
    • Lexington LifeTimes, a creative arts journal which features Senior residents’ writing, art, and photography

Our goals for 2024-25 include increasing our communication with the broader community, finding new ways to serve Lexington seniors, adding new members to our board, and raising funds to support the various programs cited above.

FCOA has benefited from the energy, enthusiasm, and bright ideas of our members: Betty Borghesani, Suzanne Caton, David Grabel, Sudhir Jain, Mickey Khazam, Lorain Marquis, Shirley Stolz, Jane Trudeau, and Chris Worcester. Thanks are extended to Dana Bickelman, Michelle Kelleher, and Kelsey Rollins of the Human Services Department as well as Christine Dean, Community Center Director, for their support. The FCOA is very grateful to Kerry Brandin for coordinating the Lexington LifeTimes publication. Special thanks are extended to Mary Hamilton and Ruth Rose who have lead the OWLL team during the past year. The FCOA also thanks John Zhao and Julie-Ann Shapiro, co-chairs of the COA, for their support.

Respectfully submitted,

Suzanne Caton

Acting President, FCOA