Club 65 Makes its Mark at HOPE Clinic’s Annual Asian Senior’s Luncheon

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Members of the Club 65 Seniors group which attended the Annual Senior’s Holiday Luncheon at Ocean Palace Restaurant on Friday, December 4.

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: Just barely three years old, Club 65 has continued on its mission of providing entertainment and social discourse for the seniors among our community with numerous events throughout the year. This past Friday, December 4, C65 was able to garner a coveted spot in the 16th Annual Asian Senior’s Holiday Luncheon at the Ocean Palace restaurant on Bellaire and Boone in Chinatown.

The event was organized by C65 President Paru McGuire and her volunteers who brought together 43 people, mostly seniors, of Indian descent to the annual event, which is hosted by HOPE Clinic. Among the more than 800 seniors at the event were members of the Indian Senior Citizen’s Association and the Golden Club. McGuire was impressed by the event and plans to have Club 65 members attend again next year.

The HOPE Clinic is the operating arm of the Asian American Health Coalition of the Greater Houston Area and provides health care services to all patients regardless of their ability to pay. It was formed in 2002 as a four-hours-a-month volunteer program and has grown to a full time Federally Qualified Health Center at 7001 Corporate in Southwest Houston which can cater to patients in 14 different languages, including most of the Asian ones.

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At the luncheon, from left are Rozein Jassar Ali, Shakuntla Malhotra and Club 65 President Paru McGuire.

Each year, the Chinese Community Center has supported the event which offered cultural dances in colorful costumes, a photo booth for taking pictures and a sumptuous lunch to the seniors. A variety of hors d’oeuvres and fresh fruits were served before lunch at the table by volunteers, followed by entrées and desserts.

Members of the various Asian senior communities volunteer and participate in the event, with the Chinese, Pilipino, Indian and Vietnamese attending every year. The evening before, volunteers from each organization fill “goody bags” with articles that seniors use in their daily lives. These were given to each senior as they left, and the centerpiece gift basket was then given to the senior-most member at their respective tables.

The event was made possible under the leadership of Cathy Phan, Health Initiatives Project Manager, HOPE Clinic and Mike C. Nguyen, Executive Director VN TeamWork.. They were assisted by volunteers including Rogene Gee Calvert, Trang Luong, Alexandria Luu, Ramesh Modi, Mari Okabayashi and Arlita Pang.