Senior Services fetes ‘everybody’s birthday’ April 29

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

ELGIN — Everybody gets to have a birthday party on April 29.

That is, everybody who attends Senior Services Inc.’s annual dinner — set for 6 to 10 p.m. at Villa Olivia Country Club, 1401 W. Lake St., Bartlett — will get to have a birthday party.

“It is our 21st annual dinner, and healthy aging is the focus,” said Jennifer Almanza, a longtime volunteer with the agency. “We are going along with our infamous theme of everybody’s birthday party, and the theme this year is ‘Sail the Seas to Healthy Aging.’ ”

In addition to the dinner, silent auction, raffles, dancing and its famous “race for the cakes,” the agency is planning limbo and hula hoop contests — like a real birthday party, Almanza said. “We are doing more things the audience can participate in for the entertainment.”

Jeff Myers of Elgin Today and WRMN radio will be the master of ceremonies and the “straight man” for the entertainer for the evening, Johnny Gray. “He has a one-of-a-kind musical variety show,” Almanza said, adding that Gray has performed in Las Vegas and Branson, Mo..

This year’s grand prize in the raffle is a trip for two to Cancun, Mexico, at the Moon Palace Golf and Spa. If spas and golfing are not the winner’s cup of tea, she added, they may use any one of the 12 resort facilities there. The trip, valid through April 30, 2012, is all-inclusive, but travel is not included in the package. The winner, however, will receive a $1,000 gift card that he or she can use for travel expenses. Or, if the winner would prefer, the cash prize alternative is $2,500. The second prize in the raffle is $500. Just 250 tickets are sold at $50 each.

The annual dinner is Senior Services’ largest fundraiser of the year. Like other nonprofit organizations in Illinois, the agency has struggled while waiting for state payments for contracted services.

“We are the only agency licensed under the state of Illinois Department on Aging to perform the programs and services we do,” Almanza said.

Senior Services has five offices in three counties and serves 26,000 people, including the frail and elderly.

“Most of the people that we serve you will never see at the Elgin Senior Center,” Almanza said.

Although that and other locations offer health and recreation programs, the bulk of the services provided include providing information and assistance to seniors, information on elder abuse prevention, assessment for home-delivered meals, and the homestead program for tax purposes.

“We are the community care unit under the state of Illinois to do those,” Almanza said.

Some of the health and recreation programs offered by the agency just received state funding last year.

“Health, wellness and recreation are a vital part of healthy aging, and we have been able to expand programming,” she said.

Almanza knows how important it is to remain active. Four years ago, at age 56, Almanza had a devastating stroke just days after receiving an Elgin Image Award for her work with area seniors. Her first public event, post-stroke, was the annual dinner a year later.

Her message to seniors, Almanza said, is not to let the illness win. She has learned how far she can push herself, and when to stop before she gets overexerted. But staying busy helps keep the mind and the body healthy.

“I don’t have control over this, but I can’t go backwards,” she said. “I am fully in control of this life I have.”