SAGINAW, MI — One year after launching, a Saginaw County program aimed at providing not pen pals but phone pals for elderly residents is aging well, organizers said.

Last October, the Saginaw County Commission on Aging launched an initiative, Phone Buddies for Seniors, which connects volunteer callers with Saginaw County residents 60 and older in search of a weekly phone chat.

So far, about 20 senior citizens have signed up for the program, said Sheila McIntosh, the initiative’s supervisor.

“A lot of them talk about their hobbies,” McIntosh said. “There’s one man, he will play a musical instrument for the volunteer over the phone. And there was one volunteer who was on vacation when they called, and the two of them talked about the vacation.”

The connection begins when either the elder

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