Hancock Little Brothers provides updates for holiday events, staff departures

HANCOCK, Mich. (WLUC) - The Upper Michigan Chapter of Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) has had a busy year celebrating its 40-year anniversary.

Now as it looks toward next year, it is preparing for a full list of events, as well as some changes.

“I’m going to be moving out of the executive director position and will be moving into a part-time position with the Little Brothers Foundation,” said LBFE Upper Michigan Executive Director Cathy Kass-Aten.

Kass-Aten has been executive director of the Upper Michigan Chapter of LBFE since 2014 and will be stepping down from her role this January.

“Our new executive director will be Carol Korpela,” added Kass-Aten. “Who has been with the organization for 20 years who is going to be fabulous to take the leadership here.”

Korpela is currently the Development Director of the Chapter.

The Chapter’s new fiscal year begins on Oct 1. and Program Director Sarah Hoffman says that means there is an increased need for volunteers for the upcoming holidays.

“We’re going to need more volunteers this year than we have in the last couple of years,” said Hoffman. “Because we’re going to be having delivery sites, sit-down sites, and sites that do both of those things.”

One event returning this year is the holiday sit-down meal sites, which Hoffman says have been missed by the community.

“We’ve been doing meal-deliveries only and we know that our volunteers and our elderly friends are missing those in-person sit-down meals, and so are we,” said Hoffman. “We want to get back to that, but we want to make sure we’re doing that safely and with enough support.”

Hoffman will also be moving on from her position later this year and offers a fond farewell to the community.

For more information on upcoming events and volunteering, visit the LBFE Upper Michigan Chapter’s website here.

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