Winter 2015 Making a Difference Like a snowflake, every volunteer is unique. Each of you have your own reasons for volunteering—maybe it’s continuing a family tradition of service, or giving back to the community, or helping to fulfill a special bond or connection to CJE SeniorLife. However different your reasons, one factor is the same: CJE SeniorLife
Quotable Quotes
values you. From workplace professionals and retirees, to students sharing their skills, each volunteer has a distinct story. Some of the volunteers featured in this issue of VIGOR will make you smile; others will have you nodding your head as you recognize yourself in them. You may even be reminded of someone interested in volunteering— so go
ahead and share these and your own stories with your friends and invite them to volunteer at CJE SeniorLife. Yes, like a snowflake, you are all one of a kind. Yet all together you are one and, as one, you make a significant impact on CJE. — Monica Eorgoff Director, Volunteer Services
“I love the handson experience and the opportunities for connecting with people that volunteering for CJE’s Home-Delivered Meals Program provides. It’s a way for me to give back, and it sets a good example for my four children.” — Patti Dresdner, Home-Delivered Means Volunteer
On the Road with Home-Delivered Meals (HDM) Through rain, sleet, and snow, volunteers deliver nutritious kosher meals to older adults who are unable to shop for and/or prepare their own food. Approximately 25% of these 89,000 nutritious meals were delivered by volunteers in 2014. While Home-Delivered
Meals is primarily a program to help avoid hunger, the social aspect of the program is also very important. Delivering meals to clients’ homes enables volunteers to monitor changes in clients over time. If they have any concerns, they can report them to care managers who in turn can
connect clients to other needed programs such as personal care, transportation and counseling. Though it may be cold outside, the warm connection between our volunteers and older adult clients linger.
Patti Dresdner (right) delivers a meal to an HDM client.