Playing and Learnings with Seniors (PALS), 1993

Over the last six decades, the New York Junior League’s work with seniors has taken many forms. Beginning in 1958, this work all started with the Library by Mail project, which mailed books to the homebound.

In 1973, the NYJL published the “Senior Summary,” a newsletter which grew into a newspaper with an estimated readership of 200,000. The newspaper covered topics such health, fitness, food, and the arts. The publication ran from 1973 to 1995.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Playing and Learning with Seniors (PAL) brought “together the young and the young at heart for mutual enjoyment” and education. Nursing homes and/or senior citizen facilities were paired with elementary schools for crafts and games.

Today, the League’s legacy of supporting New York City’s seniors is carried on by the Senior Friends Committee. For the past 15 years, the Senior Friends Committee has enriched the lives of senior citizens by offering residents of our community partner good conversation, activities, and a chance to make new “friends.” Our current community partner is The New Jewish Home. The League’s Senior Friends volunteers offer work to provide seniors with holiday meals, an Elvis impersonator, Holiday bazaar, crafts, and more.

Senior Friends – Therapy Dog Night, 2019

Community Partners have included:

• Burden Center for the Aging, Inc.
• Jewish Home and Hospital
• Mary Manning Walsh Residence
• Florence Nightingale Health Center
• Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
• Human Resources Adm. Tele Reassurance Service
• Mt. Sinai Hospital
• DeWitt Nursing Home
• The Kateri Residence
• Association Home
• United Neighbors of East Midtown
• St. Frances de Salle
• Madison Avenue Presbyterian