COLUMN: Carmel Hopkins

Among the more proactive nonprofits assisting low-income seniors is Nevada Hand Inc., a housing and neighborhood development group that is headed by Mike Mullin.

Miriam Rodriguez, who oversees the social services provided by the organization, met me Monday morning as one of the group's van drivers was dropping off food donated by local companies.

Ever wonder what happens to the leftover food at your local KFC? Each night, the food is frozen. A driver picks it up the next morning and distributes it -- along with all the fixings that come with a takeout dinner -- to some of the apartment complexes built by Nevada Hand.

Individual-size pizzas that are the previous day's leftovers from Pizza Hut also are stored in the fridge.

The driver first collected the food left over from Friday's delivery so it could be recycled at RC Farms. Then, he restocked the refrigerator with the day-old food.

Starbucks freezes its leftover rolls of the day, and those are put out for the seniors to enjoy.

"The Starbucks' rolls are especially appreciated when we're having breakfast meetings for the residents," Rodriguez said.

Through March, more than $63,000 in in-kind food donations were made to Nevada Hand.

"Snac's Vending provides sodas, chips, candy bars, that type of thing, that are popular at both our family and senior sites," Rodriguez said, noting that when there's more food than needed, the drivers deliver the leftovers to places such as Safe Nest, where the need is great.

Three grocers provide donations to Nevada Hand: Albertsons, Smith's and Vons.

Wal-Mart has provided household items and family necessities, such as diapers. Youngsters in family-oriented Nevada Hand apartments, such as Apache Pines, will be trick-or-treating in costumes provided by Wal-Mart.

Rodriguez praised others in the community who are out there helping these neediest of seniors, singling out Karen Hoffman of Henderson's Neighborhood Services as one of the most proactive.

Hoffman initiated a program that collects food coupons for the seniors and sends weekly faxes to Nevada Hand, listing the goods for which she has collected coupons. Rodriguez said Hoffman has conducted shopping seminars at the group's senior communities to familiarize the residents with the joys of "couponing."

Nevada Hand also attends to other needs of the residents.

"Several of the group's staff have been trained in teaching indoor aerobics and water aerobics and have been certified by the Arthritis Foundation," Rodriguez said.

Ounce of Prevention, a weekly seminar for seniors about diabetes, is well- attended, as are classes on nutrition and home safety.

GED classes are being given at Apache Pines, and Rodriguez's staff conducts full computer classes, half of which are for seniors.

"They're (seniors) slowly getting accustomed to them," she said. "They think if they turn it on, it's going to explode. We teach them to use e-mail and a lot of them use it to keep in touch with family. They learn to surf `Net sites -- some health related, some legal -- and they can read the paper from their homelands."

She said single-parent households are under pres- sure because the parent is away much of the time.

"Our Latch-Key Centers become very important. We help the children with their homework and plan after- school activities such as trips. We have Teen Nights with drug and pregnancy seminars and counselors. There's no one to talk to about things at home. Where do they go for help? The wrong person."

In this case, the right person is there to help, thanks to the folks at Nevada Hand.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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