September 10, 2014

Children from around New York City brought nutritious meals, warm smiles and kind words into the lives of the city’s homebound elderly in commemoration of National Grandparents Day (Sunday, September 7th).

Joined by their parents and other family members, the children gathered at The Carter Burden Center Luncheon Club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to create handmade greeting cards for the occasion. The volunteers then picked up the carefully prepared meals and headed out to make deliveries to nearly one hundred of their frail aged neighbors.

Rachel Sherrow, Citymeals Chief Program Officer, was also on hand and noted the importance of these visits. “It gives life and a lot of joy to meal recipients.”

In addition, Disney VoluntEARS marked twelve years of volunteering with Citymeals that day by delivering special amenity bags, thoughtfully assembled by Disney employees, along with the nutritious meals and heartfelt cards.

Citymeals Executive Director Beth Shapiro explained, “So many of the frail aged we serve have outlived their own families, so it’s always special when children come to visit. By celebrating National Grandparents Day in this way, we are reminding New Yorkers about their invisible neighbors who are in dire need of our support.”
 
A news crew from CBS 2 interviewed some of the children and joined them on their deliveries. View that story here.