Susan

When I lived in Manhattan in the early 1970's, the NYC Department For The Aging did not have the budget to deliver meals on the weekends and Holidays to seniors who were receiving daily deliveries. As I recall, Gael Greene and others were appalled by the thought of these people trying to save a few bites of food so they wouldn’t go hungry. They raised funds to finance weekend deliveries as well as Holidays and times of emergencies. I was a student back then, but when I read about what was happening, I started contributing what I could to the organization that eventually became Citymeals-on-Wheels.

By the time I retired thirty years later, I was long gone from New York, but I never forgot about Citymeals-on-Wheels. Once I finally had time to volunteer, I was very happy to put my writing skills to work for an excellent cause, reaching out through the Senior Script program to people who crave a few kind words as much as they need meals.

I've been responding to meal recipients' letters for almost ten years now. I have been moved to tears by some of what they've written--one woman said that my letter was the only mail she had received for the Holidays; another couple said they were alone ever since their only son had died in the Twin Towers, others have actually apologized because their handwriting is shaky. I like to think that my small act of writing a letter to people like these-- and hundreds of others over the years-- has made a difference in their lives. Especially for the folks who write back and engage me in an ongoing correspondence, I think that it gives them something to look forward to and lets them know that there is somebody out in the world who cares about them. For me, what can I say? Soul-warming probably sums it up.