In a world in which earning “double points” is a frequent goal, the opportunity to earn “double mitzvah miles” is a bonus. Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Bergen and North Hudson provides a service through their Meals on Wheels program that enables both its providers and recipients to earn mitzvot. Under the capable direction of Volunteer Coordinator Nina Ashurov, individuals with special needs deliver meals to homebound seniors several times a week during which they interact and often bond socially.
JFS of Bergen and North Hudson delivers over 40,000 meals each year to homebound seniors and people with disabilities. More than 200 volunteers serve as a lifeline to these individuals, delivering meals and providing a friendly visit. This program has been in place for close to 30 years. More recently, JFS has partnered with several local agencies that deal with developmentally disabled individuals. Several times a week, groups from these agencies board vans driven and staffed by their sponsoring agencies and deliver meals throughout the Bergen County and North Hudson areas. Ellen Finkelstein, Director of Marketing at JFS, attests, “It is really amazing to see the interaction. Not only are the volunteers doing a great mitzvah but they are providing the seniors with an opportunity to perform one as well through meaningful social interactions with the deliverers.”
Shelley Levy, Director of the Guttenberg Center for Special Services at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, told The Jewish Link that the JCC has been partnering with JFS for approximately seven years. Once or twice each week, three to six adults from her day care program, together with one to two staff members, sort, package, label and deliver meals to elderly and/or infirm recipients. Says Levy, “Through this ‘powerful partnership’ our participants are learning to give back to their community. They are also learning essential socializing skills through interacting with the recipients. The recipients, who enjoy these visits, are performing a great mitzvah by providing these valuable encounters. This is indeed a ‘win-win experience.’”
Jenelle Colon is the director of Day Programs at Hope Autism Solutions. Her program provides adults 21 years and older with “daily life enhancements.” Her participants, who live at home or in group homes, spend 75 percent of their days in community service including working in food banks, filling candy bottles for parties, gardening on the grounds of domestic violence shelters and maintaining trails for a local arboretum. They also deliver food packages through Meals on Wheels. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, seven volunteers are accompanied by staff members in distributing food packages to recipients. “Our population has difficulty communicating directly with others. They rarely look directly at the people with whom they come into contact. Surprisingly, when they deliver the food packages weekly to the homebound seniors and the infirm, they do communicate ‘face to face.’ Occasionally, hugs are even provided upon coming or going. They love it,” beams Colon. Again we see how the Meals on Wheels program provides a double mitzvah opportunity, for providers as well as recipients.
Yedei Chessed, located in Chestnut Ridge, is a large social services organization providing group homes, day habilitation programs, pre-vocational training and other vital services to individuals with special needs. As coordinator of the men’s activities program, Miriam Adler provides her participants with three to four monthly goals and incorporates activities through which to achieve these goals. Among these activities is the delivery of Meals on Wheels. On Mondays, participants, accompanied by staff members, are driven to Hackensack to pick up and address their food packages. Most of the volunteers are moderate to high functioning and come from Orthodox homes in the Monsey area. According to Adler, “The volunteers as well as the recipients all express great gratitude to us for the opportunity to be part of this program. We have no resistance on the part of the participants and they look forward to seeing their recipients each week. A win-win situation and a true double mitzvah.”
To learn more about all the servies available through Jewish Family Services of Bergen and North Hudson contact [email protected] or visit their website at www.jfsbergen.org
