Bug Labs took a long lunch yesterday to help a local organization deliver Holiday gifts to seniors in the area.  Here is our new development intern, Irvin, with one of the Holiday gift bags.

Visiting Neighbors is a non-profit organization with the mission of providing older adults mental stimulation, encouraging physical independence, and helping to alleviate loneliness.   Beyond our obvious goal of delivering gifts and chatting, Visiting Neighbors uses our visits to gather information about the state of their members – health, living conditions, etc…  I think this is great, a truly creative and resourceful community collaboration!

We were a bit surprised that half of us weren’t invited inside – the seniors we were paired with just opened the door and took the bag.  Peter and Kevin were stopped at the door, but each were given a banana .   Those of us that did sit and visit awhile came back with neat stories from some great personalities.  Brian and Al met with a feisty lady that lit her cigarette from a candle on her 100th year old birthday cake, Riba and Amie met with a senior determined to get her first computer, and Irvin and I talked with a Holocaust survivor that described for us, among other amazing stories, how the people in her building and neighborhood have changed over the last 60 years.

It’s amazing to talk with someone that has seen and experienced things I’ve only read about in history books, a living witness to the progress we make as humans.  I also enjoyed how all the members we met with were brutally honest – “oh, a crossword book…take this back.  I’ve never done these puzzles and I’m not going to start now”.  If only we all could be so honest.

For those of us invited beyond the threshold, they said they really enjoyed our visit – but I think our days were brightened even more.   Volunteering is such a synergistic activity.  I admit, the concept of interrupting my workday and sitting with an old stranger was not enticing.  I was even nervous.  But it felt great listening to stories that wanted to be told, and I learned lessons about how to appreciate life and the most basic things around me.  I feel like we made the coming days, maybe even weeks, better for some folks in our neighborhood.  I know we’ll be back.

Posted in Software, Uncategorized by Matthew Cholerton | on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 11:44 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.