Celebrating Service

Thursday February 13, 2020 | Filed under:

When you ask a group of seniors in a nursing home to share one thing they want people to know about their life, you don’t expect someone in a wheelchair to pipe up and say, “I like to ski!”

But that’s what one resident shared during an icebreaker between a group of ASI employees and residents of the Abramson Center for Jewish Life in North Wales, PA. Our employees spent an afternoon with the senior residents as part of volunteer activities organized around two recent national holidays: Holocaust Remembrance Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

ASI’s “Day ON of Service” allows colleagues to volunteer on behalf of area nonprofits, aiding the homeless, boxing up food for the needy, donating time to a pet shelter during a day devoted to learning, appreciating and helping. This year, employees were also given the option of visiting a Philadelphia museum devoted to African American culture, the National Museum of African American History and Culture or the Holocaust Memorial Museum, both in D.C.

Here’s what we accomplished:

  • 212 employees volunteered, a 15% increase over last year, with an additional 47 employees opting to volunteer at an organization of their choice
  • Activities included collecting, sorting and packing books for grades K-8, for West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC), volunteering at the Cancer Support Community Center and collecting 2,000 pounds of food for Philabundance, the largest hunger relief organization in the Delaware Valley

The “Day ON” was designed as a way for employees to get to know each other – as well as members of our community.

Talking to employees who visited the Abramson Center – most of them millennials – it was clear the best part was spending a couple of quiet hours doing crafts while simply talking with members of another generation, like the woman who proudly showed off a sweater she’d knitted, the long-time art teacher who loved to paint and the hopeful skier, who also danced ballet for an incredible 40 years. The oldest was 97 years “young.”

For many seniors, mobility is an issue, especially in winter, when going outside can be difficult. Additionally, no matter how wonderful a long-term care facility is (and the Abramson Center is top-notch, organizing tons of activities, providing physical therapy along with a greenhouse, gift shop, coffee shop, synagogue and plenty of interactions), it can be a big change for those who miss living in their own home and who may have loved ones often too busy to visit.

That’s where volunteers come in, providing a break in the routine and, perhaps most important, a chance for seniors to share a once-vital part of their life.

“I enjoyed getting to know the seniors during our activity – it really does make you appreciate life to hear their stories,” said one of ASI’s volunteers. Another added: “I hope everyone had as much fun with their ‘senior buddy’ as I had with mine.”

Sometimes, the best things in life are the simplest, like reaching out and saying, “Tell me a little about yourself.”

Who knows? You might hear a great story.