While many are aware of the countless hours that thousands of volunteers have spent serving clients at our drive-through food pantry and delivering food during the pandemic, there are other volunteers quietly dedicating their time in other areas. Friendly Visitors and para-chaplains are finding unique ways to connect with isolated older adults with whom they used to visit regularly in person.

Stephen Green, a longtime JFS volunteer and recipient of the 2018 Max Frankel Volunteer of the Year award (along with his wife Mady), has served as a Lunchbox Express volunteer, Friendly Visitor, and much more. He recently wrote us a heartfelt letter that truly captures this moment in time of “life interrupted” due to the pandemic.

We know he’s not alone. Everyone has been affected by COVID-19 in different ways and many feel isolated. However, we are inspired by how so many – including our volunteers – are finding ways to creatively adapt and help other community members in safe ways.

We hope you will feel as encouraged and inspired by Stephen’s letter as we were:

“Before the onslaught of the coronavirus, I was a volunteer in the Friendly Visitor program run by JFS. I would meet with this gentleman about every two weeks. He loves to play chess, and so do I. It was a natural fit for us and served as a good port of entry to establish a deeper relationship with one another. I must admit that I did feel a bit guilty about winning every game, but he did not seem to mind since it was the enjoyment of the game itself that concerned him most, not who won or lost.

Over time, we played less chess, but chatted a lot more. What made this relationship most interesting is that we come from quite different backgrounds, and our lives have taken altogether separate and unique paths, but we still found one another eventually. I have spent the bulk of my life in the great urban centers of America, while he was born and raised in a small town. Of course, over time we exchanged stories of our upbringing and adult lives. I loved his stories about his work in a funeral home. Given my more academic oriented career and interests, it was like listening to someone who had grown up in a foreign country. I listened with rapt attention as he regaled me with some of the more offbeat goings on in that place. 

Unfortunately, he has several serious physical issues that have had a deleterious impact on the quality of life he can now lead. We have kept in contact with each other via email, so that link has kept our relationship alive, but still pales compared to onsite visits. But he tends to be relatively optimistic about life, and rarely, if ever, complains about his fate.  

I look forward to the day when I can visit with him once again, chat about what we have done or thought of over the last year or so, and play a game or two of chess.”

Interested in volunteering? Check out our volunteer opportunities.