1,600 home-delivered meals to seniors! That is the astounding number of meals WJCS Murray Forseter estimates he has delivered to senior residents in Yonkers, Scarsdale, Mount Vernon, White Plains, and Hartsdale since he began volunteering in the WJCS senior food program 15 years ago. Murray began volunteering at WJCS after retiring from a successful career in publishing in 2009. Now, 75, he made his last food delivery on June 26th and marked the milestone by publishing a post, entitled “Delivering Food to the Greatest Generation,” on his blog called No Socks Needed Anymore.
In his post, Murray shares stories of the resilience and courage of seniors he met, most them women living alone and some of them bedridden, He writes about Sally who “craved her independence,” Rita who “only agreed to relocate after a friend convinced her to join her in a senior living complex,” and Gertrude, who during the Second World war worked at an aeronautical plant inspecting impeller shafts. Most of the women, he noted, “were part of the Greatest Generation, contributing to the Second World War effort when they were barely out of their teenage years.”
Murray recently visited us at WJCS headquarters in North White Plains and talked further about the people he met during his years of volunteering for WJCS. “There was one woman who always conversed with me at the door yet never invited me into her house. Her niece, who lived nearby, had me in her house all the time. We’d sit down and talk for 15 minutes. It’s a question of building trust over time.”
Over the years, Murray says he saw the surroundings of the seniors he visited “get truncated. Going upstairs wasn’t easy for them. They gradually relocated what they needed to the first floor or living room.”
We are deeply grateful to Murray, for his years of devoted service to WJCS and the care and compassion he showed our clients. He provided meals…and much more. He eased their loneliness, and provided support and companionship. His commitment to volunteering at WJCS helped so many people in Westchester. What a difference one person can make!
