Volunteer Spotlight: Dave Long

Dave Long is a cherished volunteer of Meals on Wheels and has been with the organization for the past 10 years. Dave has lived in New Rochelle for 22 years with his wife and his three boys and is the Program Director of the School of Criminal Justice at Monroe College. Dave’s first experience with Meals on Wheels was when he was a kid and he would go on rides with his Uncle, who was a full-time volunteer. Dave eventually returned to the organization when his son needed to do community service for his bar mitzvah. The two enjoyed it so much that they continued to do it even after the community service hours were filled and were able to make personal connections with their clients. Then when Dave’s son had to head off to college, Dave continued to volunteer and has made it apart of his weekly routine ever since. A quote from Dave that gave an overview of his relationship with Meals On Wheels was, “On a personal level, no matter how my week went I can look forward to this hour or two and realize I did something good that week.”

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Volunteer Spotlight: Pat Houlihan

Meet Pat Houlihan, who is in our volunteer spotlight this week. Pat has been volunteering for over a year now and says she loves doing it. .
Pat volunteers because she said she wants to do more for her community. She went out and looked for places where she can volunteer and help out the people in the community. That is when she landed on meals on wheels where she happily delivers meals.. There was a point in time in Pat’s life that she used to go to Mass every day. She said that it helped start her day better and with a clearer mind. She has 5 children one who she is a babysitter for sometimes during the weekends. Pat also has 2 grandchildren who play soccer! A fun fact about Pat is that she lives around the area of Iona college and she actually lives with 2 current Iona Graduate students. She says she is used to living with noise because of them.

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Volunteer Spotlight: Jane

Meet Jane who has been volunteering with Meals on Wheels for a long time! She has two daughters, one son, and three grandchildren! Jane loves to volunteer because of the joy and excitement from interacting with the clients. She mentions that “It’s way better to have a sense of relationship, otherwise it makes you feel like you’re just dropping the food off”. During the rounds, she makes sure the rapport with each individual is felt. The relationships that she builds with the clients are based on the delight of seeing each other! Outside of volunteering, Jane takes care of her family as well as enjoying golf and tennis.

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