Volunteers — like these youngsters who gathered for a recent effort — are needed to pack special food parcels for JF&CS clients before Passover.
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March 17, 2009
For more than a decade, Susan Diamond oversaw the kosher meals-on-wheels program for the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Monmouth County. When the JCC of Greater Monmouth in Deal took over that function this past January, Diamond — JF&CS director of volunteer services — welcomed the chance to focus on some of its other programs.
Among those topping her list are the Adopt a Grandparent Program, the Friendly Visiting Program, and the Holiday Program food drive — which is swinging into high gear in preparation for Passover (see sidebar).
Having worked with over a 100 volunteers providing meals to around 75 clients, she knows how deep the well of kindness is in the community and how many people need the kind of friendly cheer those programs can provide.
What volunteers do, she stressed, doesn’t replace the service provided by professionals; rather, they extend and expand what JF&CS offers its clients at its three branches in Asbury Park, Morganville, and Eatontown. “The volunteers are an invaluable link in the total care management,” she said.
Diamond talked with glowing appreciation about the volunteers. She said she particularly wanted to thank the following people: “Steve Goodman of KBR Trading Company in Tinton Falls, the company that donates the produce for our Thanksgiving and Passover holiday programs year after year; the social action committee of the Marlboro Jewish Center, which packs Passover baskets with cooked food for the homebound elderly in Monmouth County, also year after year; and all the other donors and volunteers, Hebrew schools, businesses, and individuals who make the JF&CS Holiday Program a great success year after year.”
Rabbi Gordon Yaffe of Temple Beth El in Oakhurst said he is hoping to get more youngsters from his Conservative congregation involved in the Adopt a Grandparent Program and other volunteer opportunities. “We have a large number of elderly members who would love to have regular visits from a young person, and a chance to develop a relationship with them.
Rachel Ruben, right, assisted by her sister, Rebecca, has been collecting food for the JF&CS Food Pantry as part of her bat mitzva project.
For the children, it’s a chance to really make a difference in someone’s life, and to learn about the mitzva of honoring the elderly. The elderly population can be a great resource for them, with their wealth of experience and knowledge.”
He also welcomed Diamond’s calls for other volunteer involvement. “It gives people a chance to serve an important need in the community, and that provides them with a gateway to get involved in Jewish life. This is a good shidduch; we have the community, and JF&CS has the resources to coordinate the effort.
Volunteer opportunities with JF&CS
The Holiday Program is a special food drive held twice a year. “This is for Jewish clients who can’t afford the special foods at Passover, and for them and our other clients at Thanksgiving, to show them that the community cares about them,” explained Susan Diamond, JF&CS director of volunteer services.
Community members and religious-school students gather needed foods, and on the Sunday before the holidays — for Passover this year, on April 5 — volunteers gather at the JF&CS office in Asbury Park to assemble and deliver gift parcels.
Diamond added that donations of food and other basic necessities, like toiletries and diapers, are always welcome to stock the agency’s food pantry. Cash donations and certificates for local supermarkets are also welcome —all the more so this year, as the agency faces a growing number of people in need.
Adopt a Grandparent is geared to youngsters between 10 and 14. It involves a commitment by the child to visit with an elderly person at least 10 times, always accompanied by one or both of their parents. They can play cards or other games, or just chat about their lives together.
Diamond very carefully matches the visitors with those they visit, to give them the best chance of developing a true friendship. With the growing number of retirees coming to live in the area, many of them far from their own families and unable to drive or get out on their own, she said, the contact with these young people can be a rare source of joy.
Diamond said she hopes to expand the program by working with local synagogues.
The Friendly Visiting Program involves adult volunteers who make regular visits to people in need of more social contact — like the homebound elderly or those who are ill or have disabilities. The visits cut down on their loneliness and can provide some relief to their caregivers. The visitors can also be a crucial source of information about their wellbeing for the JF&CS social workers.
Anyone who wants to apply to be part of the Adopt a Grandparent Program, or who would like to volunteer for the Friendly Visiting Program — or any other JF&CS program, or who would like to be visited by a volunteer, should call Diamond at 732-774-2990, or email her at susandiamond@JF&CSmonmouth.org.
If you would like to make a donation to help the food pantry, contact JF&CS at 732-774-6886 or JF&CSmoncty@jfscmonmouth.org.
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