Stan is my elderly friend introduced to me by the Volunteer Services Department (VSD) of Jewish Family Services. My volunteer assignment is to help lessen the pain of loneliness that often accompanies old age.
Stan and I get together about once a week. Two Sundays ago, he and I spent a day visiting the Milwaukee Domes, antique shops in the Old Third Ward and having a dinner of corned beef, chopped liver and matzah ball soup at our favorite deli.
During the drive to take my 76-year-old friend to his home, which is a health and rehabilitation center a.k.a. nursing home, he and I made plans to “hang out” the following Thursday evening at a Barnes & Noble bookstore.
I pulled up to the main entrance of his “home” and before he left my car, he turned to me, shook my hand, smiled and said with sincerity, “Thanks for the fun day.”
Last year, the VSD’s Yedidim (Pals) program introduced me to a fatherless young teen who needed a male role model in his life. We went to Bucks games, movies or sometimes just talked over burgers, fries and a Coke. Doesn’t matter what activity we did together, when I drove him home he never failed to say, “Thanks.”
Two months ago, I approached the dedicated staff of the VSD to offer my help with “The Volunteer Touch” newsletter. I received the familiar “Thank you” that volunteers so often hear.
Stan, the young teen and the VSD staff don’t seem to realize that I’m the one who should say “Thank you” to them. The mitzvah of volunteering is powerful and its own reward.
After taking Stan or the young teen home, or after a newsletter planning session by phone with a staff member, the feeling I experience is enriching to the soul. It’s a feeling like no other.
Beware, though; volunteers become selfish people. What the volunteer gains far outweighs the giving. When people volunteer to one or more of the many people-helping-people programs of JFS, they feel good about themselves.
They feel that they are making a difference — and they are. The volunteers add quality to another’s life while elevating themselves closer to G-d.
Volunteers become addictive people — that, too, is true. The more the volunteer receives from performing the mitzvah of helping others in need, the more the volunteer desires to help. The addiction has a domino effect within the volunteer, for which there is no cure.
If you feel it’s time to give something back by helping others while having an experience that last a lifetime, I suggest you call the Volunteer Services Department of Jewish Family Services — 414-289-0133 — today. Don’t put it off.
Call and say, “I want to volunteer,” and they’ll do the rest. Then, enjoy the feeling.
Milwaukeean Sandon W. Siegel is marketing director of the Journal Credit Union.
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