Friday, September 16, 2011

Volunteer Guest Bloggers from 9/11 Package Delivery in conjunction with Dorot

Marilyn and I visited R___ G___ .She was amazing. Smart, coherent, interesting, cultured, etc. She is 92 and has family in NY, children, etc. Nevertheless, she (to use her words) gets lonely at times and enjoyed the one hour visit. Marilyn and I both enjoyed meeting her and were pleased to participate in this wonderful outreach. --Jill Altman with Marilyn Scher

Unfortunately, B__ (our person) was not able to receive visitors. His wife answered the phone and said that he was very confused today and that we should not visit. We went back to Dorot for another name, then they let us know that there were no more visits. Good in a way that they had so many volunteers. -- Barbara Bova with Ruth Samberg

Betty, Bob and I visited a very sweet lady in Schwab House (West End Ave &
73rd St) and she was so pleasant and so lonely that we stayed about 2 hours.
She kept offering us Coca Cola and wanted to be a good hostess. She's about
85 and does get out a little but she fell last week and it's a little harder
for her now. But I think she will heal and Betty offered to come to her
house and take her to JASA on Fridays where they serve lunch and have
entertainment. I gave her the address of the Actors Temple and she may call
Access-A-Ride to bring her on a Friday night. She was exceedingly happy
with our visit.

We were also given another gentlemen to visit in the same building. Bob tried to contact
him but he had gone out for a walk with his aide. Bob left the package for him. --Florence Cohen with Betty Steiner and Bob Reicher

It went very well. Carlos and I got along very well and A__was very happy to see us. We were there about an hour an a half chatting about her and ourselves because she was interested and pleased with our visit. She's alert, articulate, goes to a synagogue nearby. We met her home care person but she did not join us; we learned about her family. She would like to see the Actors’ Temple but doesn't go out at night; she needs a walker. I suggested that maybe the day event (a tour of the synagogue) which started with the United Federation of Teachers (group visiting) would come up again and if it did I'd let her know; but the problem for her would be the stairs. She said she was going to request Dorot to have us both be sent there again; and as we left she said she couldn't wait to see what was sent in the bag. We told her about the Actors’ Temple, Rabbi Jill, and her music quest. She told us about her children and grandchildren. Carlos and I found it to be a gratifying experience --Estelle Levy with Carlos Ramirez

Our visit went well! Michael and I met a 95 year old holocaust survivor from Poland. Her daughter and son-in-law were also there. I played my violin for them all and fortunately they thoroughly enjoyed it. The daughter, who used to play violin herself, enjoyed it especially. Unfortunately, our visit wasn't long, as the daughter and her husband were due to go out and celebrate their anniversary. Still, we had a good time, however brief it was. I look forward to doing this again!--Daniel Constant with Michael Verdel

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Guest Bloggers: Volunteers Who Delivered Packages on 9/11 in conjunction with Dorot

Marilyn and I visited R___ G___ .She was amazing. Smart, coherent, interesting, cultured, etc. She is 92 and has family in NY, children, etc. Nevertheless, she (to use her words) gets lonely at times and enjoyed the one hour visit. Marilyn and I both enjoyed meeting her and were pleased to participate in this wonderful outreach. --Jill Altman with Marilyn Scher

Unfortunately, B__ (our person) was not able to receive visitors. His wife answered the phone and said that he was very confused today and that we should not visit. We went back to Dorot for another name, then they let us know that there were no more visits. Good in a way that they had so many volunteers. -- Barbara Bova with Ruth
Betty, Bob and I visited a very sweet lady in Schwab House (West End Ave &
73rd St) and she was so pleasant and so lonely that we stayed about 2 hours.
She kept offering us Coca Cola and wanted to be a good hostess. She's about
85 and does get out a little but she fell last week and it's a little harder
for her now. But I think she will heal and Betty offered to come to her
house and take her to JASA on Fridays where they serve lunch and have
entertainment. I gave her the address of the Actors Temple and she may call
Access-A-Ride to bring her on a Friday night. She was exceedingly happy
with our visit.

We were also given another gentlemen to visit in the same building. Bob tried to contact
him but he had gone out for a walk with his aide. Bob left the package for him. --Florence Cohen with Betty Steiner and Bob Reicher

It is very encouraging. Unfortunately, Bert (our person) was not able to receive visitors. His wife answered the phone and said that he was very confused today and that we should not visit. We went back to Dorot for another name, then they let us know that there were no more visits. Good in a way that they had so many volunteers. --Barbara Bova with Ruth Sandberg

It went very well. Carlos and I got along very well and A__was very happy to see us. We were there about an hour an a half chatting about her and ourselves because she was interested and pleased with our visit. She's alert, articulate, goes to a synagogue nearby. We met her home care person but she did not join us; we learned about her family. She would like to see the Actors’ Temple but doesn't go out at night; she needs a walker. I suggested that maybe the day event (a tour of the synagogue) which started with the United Federation of Teachers (group visiting) would come up again and if it did I'd let her know; but the problem for her would be the stairs. She said she was going to request Dorot to have us both be sent there again; and as we left she said she couldn't wait to see what was sent in the bag. We told her about the Actors’ Temple, Rabbi Jill, and her music quest. She told us about her children and grandchildren. Carlos and I found it to be a gratifying experience --Estelle Levy with Carlos Ramirez

Our visit went well! Michael and I met a 95 year old holocaust survivor from Poland. Her daughter and son-in-law were also there. I played my violin for them all and fortunately they thoroughly enjoyed it. The daughter, who used to play violin herself, enjoyed it especially. Unfortunately, our visit wasn't long, as the daughter and her husband were due to go out and celebrate their anniversary. Still, we had a good time, however brief it was. I look forward to doing this again!--Daniel Constant with Michael Verdel