GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – It was a picture of a sunrise over a golf course that grabbed our attention this week and we reached out to the person who took it. It led us to Penney Retirement Community where there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
Jim Hennigar took this picture on the golf course at sunrise. He says he’s out here playing almost every day.
“We don’t play if it’s colder than 50 degrees, but one of our players is 92. Another one is 82. I’m the kid at 78,” said Hennigar.
He took us on a tour of the nearly 100-year-old community on his snazzy red golf cart. Penney Retirement Community was built by J.C. Penney, the man who started the department store. He created the community for retired missionaries and clergy and it later opened up to anyone who wants to live a faithful, purposeful life as a part of a Christian community.
Hennigar moved there with his wife of 60 years, who had Alzheimer’s disease. She’s since passed, but he still lives a life she’d be proud of. His nature photos from the retirement community have become fan favorites on our SnapJAX page (see gallery at top of page).
“I try to stay out of the politics and the decision-making and just have fun,” Hennigar said.
But instead of talking about his life, he wanted to share something really amazing that’s going on in one of the buildings on campus: PET -- or Personal Energy Transportation. Community members work there several hours a day building carts for people all over the world who are unable to walk. A reverend had the idea 30 years ago.
“Larry Hills almost stepped on the lady that was crawling out of a field with a child on her back, crawling 3 miles to get water. And she did that every day. And Larry said, ‘There’s got to be a better way.’ And that’s how this all started,” said Mike Kolodka, who works with PET.
The PET team members all have specific jobs, from cutting the wood and assembling parts to painting. In the end, you have a hand-powered cart. They call it the gift of mobility, but it’s also a gift to the people who have found purpose in a space they never expected.
“Didn’t even occur to me. I knew that they would like us to volunteer doing something. And I found PET, and it’s kept me busy. And it keeps me out of my wife’s hair,” Kolodka said. “Because when you retire, and you don’t go to a job every day, you know, you’re together a whole lot more.”
There are now more than 20 affiliates across the country, and they’ve made more than 100,000 carts. About 800 are made yearly at the Penney Retirement Community. Each costs $400 and some of the materials are donated but they also fundraise. Don Arnold is in charge of that and it keeps him busy.
“So many people think of retirement as going to Club Med or sitting in a rocking chair and whatnot. And that runs out pretty fast,” Arnold said. “The fact that we, every day when we get up, we know what we’ve got to do, and it’s something significant.”
The recipients of the carts never pay a cent for a chance at a new life -- and that’s priceless.