Message from our Executive Vice President

My Day at the Rockleigh Jewish Home by Ayden Berkey

Did you ever know how much fun it is to help other people? On Thursday March 1st my brother and I went to the Jewish Home in Rockleigh. Before we left for the Jewish Home my brother Ian and I made pictures for the elderly people who live there. Once we got there, we organized our pictures and went from door to door giving people our lovely pictures. In addition, we also went around and handed out the March calendars and the Hebrew newsletters.

The best part about going was talking to the people and learning about what they’ve done in the past. For example, some people were artists and some were teachers. I thought it was very interesting hearing all of their stories. I learned that it makes me feel great to help others, especially older people. One of the best parts of my experience was the connection I felt with the people. I felt that by what I was doing I brightened up their lives and gave them a couple moments of happiness. I think it made them all happy to share the memories and stories of their past.

Before we arrived at the Jewish Home, I felt happy to be helping other people; although, I was also kind of nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. After visiting the Jewish Home I felt great because of the smiles on the faces of all of the people I met. Miss Rumphius was trying to help the world by planting seeds to make the world more beautiful. I was trying to make the world a better place by bringing some happiness to some older people.

I will definitely continue to help other people because it makes me feel awesome and that I’ve really accomplished something great. All in all, I think we had a tremendous day at the Jewish Home.

My Day at the Rockleigh Jewish Home by Ian Berkey

I decided to make my community service about trying to help other people. I decided to do this by volunteering at the Rockleigh Jewish Retirement Home.

When I got to the Jewish Home, I started by pushing a cart to each room. On the cart were colorful pictures, a newsletter and the March calendar which I gave out and hung up in each room. My mom, my sister, and two other people who were also volunteers helped me. I did this on two floors, and met and spoke to lots of the people who lived there.

While on my rounds, I saw that they had a nail salon, a library and 2 diners at the home. They also had a kid’s room and a fish tank. I met one person who had been a teacher and two who were artists. What a surprise it was when I ran into the mother of my mom’s friend. It was nice speaking to her.

During my visit, I learned about all of the interesting things that the people there have done in their lives. One person had been a high school teacher. It was very interesting hearing about what it was like being a teacher 35 years ago. I found out how much I could learn just by listening to all of the stories of their lives. I also learned the importance of helping older people.

During my visit, I took the job of handing out the newsletters and information for all of the people there. I saw the smiles on the faces of everybody that I spoke with. I think that the people we visited were happy to have young visitors.

Before I got to the home, I was a bit nervous about what I would do, and how I could help. Once I got started, and began to see how much fun it was to help, I began to enjoy myself. When I was done, I felt happy that I had made people smile just by spending some time with them.

Miss Rumphius went from place to place helping different people, doing all kinds of different things. The people that she helped were happy that she did. I think that the people that I visited and helped were happy to have me visit, and help them, and spend time with them just talking and handing out their calendars and newsletters.

I think that I will do some kind of community service again in my life. I might go back and visit the Jewish Home again, or maybe try something new. It felt really good helping other people. It makes me want to help again.