Who needs Sunshine Service? The answer apparently is that many of our fellow Sun City residents do.
Sunshine Service is a 501(c)3 charitable organization serving the geographic community of Sun City and supplying their need for durable medical and children’s equipment since 1962.
As a volunteer member of the Sunshine Service board of directors, I recently had the opportunity to review our inventory of stock items and the usage to loan these items to our community. What I found was that among our 14 most loaned out items, some 4,266 individual items were presently on loan. These items included wheelchairs, folding walkers, elevated toilet seats, hospital beds, lift chairs, tall walkers, knee walkers, fold-n-go walkers, first-up lift chairs, upright walkers, heavy-duty upright walkers and rollaway beds.
The 2020 census revealed a Sun City population of 39,931. The Sunshine Service loaned usage to this population translates then into serving just over 1 in 9 Sun City residents. I was somewhat surprised that the number of residents Sunshine Service serves was that high. On reflection, three things stand out to me that most likely drive that loaned usage:
There is never a charge for anything Sunshine Service loans, although donations are always appreciated. Loaned items may be borrowed for as long as the individual using the item needs them. When the need is fulfilled, the item(s) are simply returned.
The Sunshine Service stock inventory contains nearly 100 different durable medical and children’s equipment items allowing Sunshine Service to meet almost every imaginable need. A full list of the inventory stock of Sunshine Service can be found on our Website www.sunshineservice.org.
The organization has the ability to serve in a timely manner. Sunshine Service can fill a durable medical or children’s equipment need immediately. Even items that a doctor writes a prescription for can be filled in minutes and a person or family member is then out the door quickly. Medicare on the other hand requires paperwork and an unknown time period to wait for final approval.
The motto of Sunshine Service is that “We’re here to make your life easier.” Apparently we’re doing that for quite a number of folks.
