Veterans Day Celebration

For Veterans Day, Met Council staff and volunteers held a ceremony for the 22 formerly homeless housing clients at our Abraham I and II Residences in Sea Gate, Brooklyn. All the residents were invited to attend a ceremony that honored the years of services these vets gave to their country.

Each veteran was asked to state when and where they served as well as to speak about their experiences. From Germany, to Korea, to Vietnam, Met Council clients served in the army, air force, navy, and Marine Corps. The diversity of experience was bridged by swapping war stories about trainings in Fort Hamilton or the cold temperatures in Korea. At the end of the day, each veteran was given a Met Council backpack with a Veterans Day t-shirts and a military pin that showed the insignia of each veteran’s regiment.

JCORPS volunteers at the Senior Lunch Program

Met Council teamed up with 15 JCORPS volunteers to serve hot kosher meals to 19 low income seniors at our housing site in Manhattan’s east side, as part of our Senior Lunch Program. The purpose of this program is multi-faceted: one, to ensure that our low income clients receive a hot, nutritious meal; two, to provide a social network for volunteers; and three, to create a sense of community in the housing site so that residents get to know their neighbors. Every resident that attended the program was greeted, seated, served a delicious meal, and interacted with! It was evident that everyone was having a good time, as the room was glowing with smiling faces. We very much look forward to the next Senior Lunch Program!

Want to get involved? Contact Sarah at sleiner@metcouncil.org or check out Met Council's other volunteer projects at www.metcouncil.org/volunteer

Boro Park JCC Front Desk Volunteer Needed!

Weekdays 9AM-5PM

Boro Park, Brooklyn

Met Council is seeking an energetic volunteer to manage the front desk of the Boro Park JCC. Volunteer duties include greeting and referring clients, scheduling appointments, and directing walk-ins. We are looking for a once weekly commitment for 6 months.

If you would like to participate, please contact Kelley Baldwin at 212-453-9675 or kbaldwin@metcouncil.org

Honor Met Council's Veteran Clients!

Wednesday, November 10th, 9:30AM-12PM
Sea Gate, Brooklyn

Help make Veterans Day special for formerly homeless vets at Met Council's housing site located in Sea Gate, Brooklyn. Volunteers are needed to help staff a memorial ceremony by decorating the room, setting up the food, interacting with clients and cleaning up.

If you would like to participate, please contact Kelley Baldwin at 212-453-9675 or kbaldwin@metcouncil.org

Afternoon Delight With Seniors

Met Council teamed up with volunteers from Jewish International Committee of New York (JICNY) to make sandwiches for low-income seniors at the E 61st Street housing site. The purpose of the Sandwich Shoppe event was not only to provide a free meal to the residents, but to facilitate community building amongst the residents who live independently and may not know each other. The volunteers also interacted with the residents after everyone had settled in, lending them an ear or engaging them in friendly conversation. The room was filled with positive energy and constant flowing conversation; no one was left unnoticed. As stated by our housing director, Martin Graber, "Tenants at East 61st Street told me they had a great time and the volunteers that were here were GREAT and respectful and it was a pleasure to talk to them."

New Program: Senior Lunch Program

Straight from the volunteering front-lines: Julia Fleisch's experience as a volunteer at Met Council's newest lunch program.

At Met Council’s free lunch for low income seniors, the food is not the main attraction. It comes in second to the opportunity to socialize with friends and volunteers. Sure, the seniors love not having to cook or pay for food on Sunday morning but they get much more when they come to the Met Council Sunday Lunch Program.

A few weeks ago, I volunteered at the lunch program for the first time. I went in thinking that I would just be piling meatballs onto spaghetti all afternoon. Yet, I found myself spending the bulk of the time sitting with the patrons, complaining about New York public transit. Yes, I did do more meatball piling than my average Sunday, but it was worth a little tomato sauce stain on my white shirt to bring some young spirit to the lives of the seniors.

As I left the building when the lunch was over, I felt good knowing that I had helped, and I was pretty sure that the seniors appreciated it too. I found out for sure when I walked into the Grand Central main concourse on my way home and bumped into one of the women, Maria, that I had just served at lunch. She was watching the Mexico versus Argentina game on one of the plasma screens set up around the information booth for the World Cup. When she saw me she exclaimed, spread her arms out, and gave me a hug. I knew then that she had appreciated my help.

My train wasn’t leaving for another half hour so I stayed and watched the game with her. She explained to me her conflict concerning who to root for. She likes Mexican culture, so she wanted to root for Mexico. But, she is from Colombia, and Argentina is near there so she felt obligated to root for Argentina. We continued to schmooze until my train was about to leave. I left her feeling like I had started a new relationship that I would cultivate on many Sundays to come.

Volunteerism has a Synonym

Written by Met Council's very own Blog Volunteer:

This past semester, I took “Fundamentals of Leadership” at Queens College on a whim. There were plenty of definitions for what leadership really is, and the general idea was that leadership is defined as working towards a positive change.

The funny thing is, that’s exactly what volunteering is all about. When you create a garden, help immigrants fill out a census form, support a poverty-stricken child, you make a difference. A positive difference.

In my own little way, I too am making a difference by updating this blog. Maybe some of these posts will even encourage you to be a leader.

Want to be a volunteer AND a leader? Check out Met Council's new Volunteer Leader program! E-mail volunteer@metcouncil.org for more details.