Thanksgiving at its core is about gratitude. And it was gratitude I felt at every turn in a short week that took me from volunteering with the elderly on the Upper West Side to delivering humanitarian aid to Puerto Rico.
On Sunday, I delivered fresh, kosher Thanksgiving meals and visited with a homebound senior through DOROT, an amazing UJA-Federation partner that mobilizes volunteers to improve the lives of the elderly.
The experience brought back powerful memories.
More than 30 years ago, before I was married or had children, my first introduction to communal service was volunteering at DOROT, bringing meals and visiting with seniors only blocks from my apartment. Until then I had no idea of the massive needs of what was to me, at the time, a largely invisible population on the Upper West Side.
Older men and women with little or no family nearby, limited ability to go outside, and minimal resources welcomed me warmly into cramped studio apartments, every bit as grateful for the company as the turkey dinner.
These heartwarming visits meant just as much to me. There is no more fulfilling way to spend time, and the experience only grew in meaning over the years as my wife and children joined me in volunteering.
This past Sunday, after delivering the holiday meal and visiting with a lovely elderly woman, I joined 300 older adults and 150 volunteers of all ages at DOROT’s Thanksgiving banquet hosted at Congregation Rodeph Sholom. The scene was beautifully festive, with a multigenerational choir singing “God Bless America” in Yiddish and English, among other classics, and a flash mob composed of intrepid seniors and young adults dancing to “Rock Around the Clock.” While waiting on tables, I took in the microcosm of our community — people of every color and background, from men in yarmulkes to a woman in a hijab, being served and serving together, feeling part of something that transcends difference.
It doesn’t get more Thanksgiving than that.
Until yesterday…when I joined a small UJA-Federation delegation on a flight to Puerto Rico made possible by one of our very generous donors. This was UJA’s 13th direct humanitarian flight to the region in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and all told — along with our partners, the Afya Foundation and Greater New York Hospital Association — we’ve delivered over 67,000 pounds of desperately needed supplies.
Joined by Puerto Rico’s local Chabad rabbi and a police escort, we brought food and other necessities to a community center and small nursing home in Canovanas, a poor neighborhood that is still without power two months after the storm.
It’s hard to express adequately the gratitude of the people we met. They don’t know us; they don’t know what motivates us to come. From their perspective, just trying to survive, every kindness matters. Their thanks and sense of relief crossed every language barrier.
And the gratitude cuts both ways. Because you can’t help but feel incredibly fortunate to be able to bring that kind of relief and joy to others. So this year, I’m thankful that we can bring comfort and dignity to the elderly, be a source of hope and strength to those ravaged by natural disaster — and thankful to all of you who make all this and much more possible.
Happy Thanksgiving