The Second Annual Pittsburgh 2008 I Remember Mama^® 

Even after we are all grown up, finding the perfect Mother’s Day gift is still hard.

This May, children of all ages had the opportunity to proclaim their love and recognize the importance of their own special relationships by supporting Pittsburgh’s second annual I Remember Mama®. It was a wonderful afternoon focused on honoring women across Pittsburgh who spend Mother’s Day alone, while at the same time honoring and remembering our own mothers who nurtured, protected and cared for us.

It was an extra special Mother’s Day!

Due to distance, chance or circumstance, Mother’s Day in Pittsburgh is often another day alone! Because these lonely circumstances are all too common across the country, Volunteers of America chooses to celebrate Mother’s Day as a national day of need.

Beginning in Los Angeles in the early 1980’s and spreading across the country to many of the 44 state affiliates, employees of Volunteers of America answer the need by organizing a signature fund raising event called I Remember Mama®.

This year Volunteers of America affiliates including branches in North Alabama, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Western New York, Mansfield, Ohio, the Carolinas, Utah, Washington, and in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania brought their communities together to celebrate Mother’s Day.

On May 4, 2008, the Pittsburgh office hosted their second annual I Remember Mama® luncheon at the Radisson Hotel Green Tree greeting 250 senior women from area residential communities including Glenshaw AARP #3744, Home Instead Senior Care, Life Span, Plum Senior Community Center, Seneca Manor, Senior Training and Employment Program, Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, OASIS, Weinberg Terrace and Weinberg Village. We honored mothers of all ages, celebrating their role in the overall well being of our communities. Invited guests enjoyed a free afternoon which included lunch, entertainment, overflowing gift bags and special recognition.

This afternoon was generously supported by The H. J. Heinz Corporation joining Volunteers of America for the second year as Pittsburgh’s major sponsor and supporter of I Remember Mama®.    Corsages for each guest and table centerpieces were provided by McCandless Floral making the day beautiful as well as fun.

Enrtainment included a Dean Martin Frank Sinatra Review by Pittsburgh’s own Coz Serrapere and Nick Fiasco. Sweet Adelines International Barbershop Quartet “Ready or Not” featured the music they are preparing for a 2008 June competition and acoustic guitarist and Working Order program entrepreneur, Robert Gally provided intro background sounds. A cabaret revue by Bernadette DeVault with piano solos by her accompianist David Crisci, were a highlight of the afternoon plus a duet with 86 year old BeBe Barantovich who ended the entertainment with a lively sing-a-long of “God Bless America” joined by other members of the “Ladies of the Mon” Calendar Girls.

Mother’s Day cards were made by All of Us Care, Greenfield Elementary School, FCCLA, Network of Hope, Pathfinder School and Watson Institute LEAP Preschool and delivered with the gift bags filled by our many sponsors.

Next year when you make your plans to share thoughtful gifts and caring cards with your Mom, consider give some special attention to others who also deserve to be remembered on Mother’s Day. The Third annual I Remember Mama® will be held on May 3, 2009.

You can honor the special relationships you enjoyed as a kid with your mother, your grandmother or other special women in your life by sponsoring a table of deserving women to attend I Remember Mama®.

You can be one of the countless individuals and businesses who fill our gift bags or provide gift baskets and tickets for events and programs as door prizes.

or consider becoming a title sponsor for a day where everyone wins.

You can make Mother’s Day 2009 extra ordinary by joining Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania in answering the need.

If you would like your senior organization or retirement community to be invited to participate in 2009 I Remember Mama or if you would like to help support this unique afternoon as a corporate sponsor or individual donor, please contact Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania at 412.782.5344 or email workingorder@voapa.org.

Link to sponsor information and  2008 Sponsors — Southwest PA