Honored by Assistance League® of Sacramento

SACRAMENTO, CA – “We are thrilled to honor 100 year old Dora Tompkins of Citrus Heights as a valued community volunteer.  Mrs. Tompkins has volunteered countless hours over the last ten years by crocheting and knitting over 6,000 pieces of clothing and items for our Senior Friendship Program,” said Liz Stenstrom, President, Assistance League® of Sacramento.  President Stenstrom said that Mrs. Tompkins has positively touched the lives of I thousands of infants and adults in the greater Sacramento area with her handicrafts for the last decade.  (Editor:  See photos of Dora Tompkins on last page.)

President Stenstrom said, “We chose to recognize Dora Tompkins to highlight her lifetime accomplishments and to honor her as a valued community volunteer for the last 10 years.  She has proven to be a very prolific producer and we are impressed with the volume of work. She deserves our recognition for sharing her skills and her willingness to exert herself for the benefit of the community.” Mrs. Tompkins will be presented with an Award of Achievement at the Senior Friendship Tea on Friday, April 15, 2011 at the Carmichael Park Clubhouse.

For her 100th birthday, the Mayor of Citrus Heights and the Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce honored Mrs. Tompkins with framed certificates.  The Crosswood Oaks Senior Residence Center hosted a birthday party showering her with gifts and messages of appreciation for her ability to inspire others who reside in the senior residence facility.  Moreover, Mrs. Tompkins daughter (Sylvia Waldron) and her husband who live in Gold River hosted a family gathering to honor the centenary.  Over 26 family members from all over the world attended the function at the Marriott Hotel in Rancho Cordova where they reminisced about her life covering 10 decades.  Family members included five (5) grandchildren and five (5) great grandchildren, siblings and cousins.

Reflecting on her life, Mrs. Tompkins said that she immigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1929 with her parents and four siblings during the depression.  They landed in Los Angeles and her father began a retail jewelry business.  While learning English and working part-time as a nanny in Los Angeles, she met, her husband and they married and went into the retail jewelry business.  She and her husband had two daughters and, while focusing her efforts on raising her family to be good American citizens with a strong spiritual base, she assisted her husband in the jewelry business.  Once her daughters were grown, she worked full-time as a jeweler until they sold the business after 35 years because her husband was ailing.  After her husband passed, she remarried at age 58 years and started another chapter in her life as a world traveler.   She was again widowed at the age of 70.  Ten years ago, she moved to the Crosswood Oaks Senior Residence Center and learned of the Senior Friendship Program sponsored by Assistance League of Sacramento.    (MORE)

Contact:   Nancy Baker, VP-Public Relations (916) 354-2826       RELEASE:  March 15, 2010

Mrs. Tompkins said that she is most proud of having raised her daughters to be good citizens with a strong spiritual base, and to keeping her spouses “very, very happy.”  She is modest about the volume of knitted and crochet items she produces.  She said that she “feels blessed with the opportunity to do something that she loves and that helps others.”

Mrs. Tompkins starts out her day early by knitting and by the afternoon, she starts crocheting items.   When asked what her secret to longevity is, she said that keeping busy while maintaining a happy marriage was the key.  She said that she has had a wonderful life, and is still here volunteering having learned her craft over 90 years ago.  As a member of the Greatest Generation, her advice to the Baby Boomer Generation is not to abuse their bodies and spirits – grin, bear it, and do not complain.

Assistance League of Sacramento established the Senior Friendship Program in 1980.  The program encourages seniors in retirement homes to use their special talents to knit, crochet, and sew for those in need.  The Committee administers the program, provide the materials and instructions, pick up, package, and deliver finished items to nonprofit organizations that help children and adults in crisis.  This program brings a sense of “community” and sense of belonging to the participants.  In the last 31 years over 36,000 items were created by residents of senior housing and donated to the needy in the greater Sacramento area.  For additional information about Assistance League of Sacramento, access the web site   www.Sacramento.AssistanceLeague.org, e-mail:  alsacmail@gmail.com, and the Facebook page or call (916) 488-0828.