Local seniors in safe hands

Volunteers provide door-to-door transportation for medical visits

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For many senior citizens, driving to the doctor or dentist can be a hassle. But with the help of Friends In Safe Hands, or FISH, getting to necessary appointments is no longer an issue. The organization, which is based in Wantagh, offers door-to-door transportation to medical appointments for the elderly. Its mission is to give back.

More than 30 FISH officers and volunteers from Wantagh, North Wantagh, Bellmore and North Bellmore gathered at a luncheon on May 14 at the Wantagh Public Library. “Our medical business has been helping seniors that are 60 and over for many years, and we are always looking for more volunteers,” said Director Paul Desroches, of Wantagh. “Right now we are able to accommodate many people in the confines of Nassau County, and although we don’t go to the extremes, we always travel to reasonable areas, like most hospitals.”

The FISH movement began in 1961, when members of a church in England took action to make their neighborhood more kind and caring. They devised a means for neighbors to signal distress and a way for volunteers to deliver aid. The fish symbol was chosen as the logo to represent the idea for renewed community involvement.

Nine years later, FISH of Wantagh was founded by several friends. They distributed fliers to recruit volunteers from a cross-section of the community to help others close to home. In its early years, the group served anyone in need by providing babysitting services, shopping, hot meals, transportation and more.

Over time, the organization’s mission came to focus exclusively on the growing number of older residents in Wantagh and Bellmore who worry about how they will get to medical appointments and tend to vital errands. The group now provides about 100 rides a month, ferrying seniors to and from doctors’ and dentists’ appointments across Nassau County.

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