Friends for Life is a nonprofit, charitable organization that hosts engaging social events for the residents of Life’s Garden, a 208-unit senior apartment complex in Sunnyvale, CA. We are an all-volunteer group with diverse backgrounds, professions, and ages. We are drawn together by a common interest in enriching the lives of the seniors at Life’s Garden, which opened in 1976. A few of us have family members who lived or now live there.

We juggle work, retirement, travel, family, friends, and community commitments. We organize in-person social events at Life’s Garden about every other month. During COVID restrictions, introduced in 2020, we assembled and distributed themed gift bags to the approximately 250 seniors at Life’s Garden.

Now that COVID restrictions are lifted, we have resumed hosting in-person events (such as a fall Bingo Night and a December Christmas Tea ) onsite at Life’s Garden. We arrange for engaging entertainment and delicious refreshments at each event.

We set up for the events, welcome and interact with the seniors, serve the refreshments, and do the cleanup. Sometimes our partners, kids or grandkids come along to help. We try to have bi-lingual Chinese speakers to interact with those seniors with limited English.

Our Leadership Team is responsible for our operational and financial management. Our party and gift bag expenses are covered by annual donations from generous individuals.