Friendly Visiting Program for Holocaust survivors Hosts First Annual Fundraising Dinner

NEW YORK, NY [CHI] — iVolunteer, New York City’s friendly visiting program for homebound Holocaust Survivors, is hosting a Fundraising dinner for their volunteer visitors, survivors and friends. On September 25th, iVolunteer invites you to share an evening of festivity and inspiration to honor our dedicated volunteers. Chaired by Pat O’Gorman, a friend of iVolunteer who played an influential and instrumental role in the founding of CNN and the Food Network, we look forward to greeting you at the Edmund J. Safra Synogouge on 11 East 63rd St in Manhattan.

iVolunteer creates a sense of community by providing both our survivors and volunteers with social events and special programs. These programs include monthly Friday night dinners for our volunteers and luncheons for our survivors. iVolunteer is not only a social network for the survivors, but for the volunteers as well.

iVolunteer volunteers come from all walks of life. Many of them are professionals who want to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors. Others are local high school and college students, who are excited by the chance to reach across the generations and establish a unique friendship with a lonely senior. All iVolunteer volunteers are screened and trained prior to beginning their home visits. In particular, the volunteers are trained to identify the Holocaust Survivor’s other social service needs, so that iVolunter can bring in an outreach caseworker to help the senior access additional benefits and services when necessary. Volunteers communicate regularly with the iVolunteer Directors, Tzvi and Elisheva Tauby, who work tirelessly to ensure that every senior, and every volunteer, is satisfied with and gaining from the relationship. Mrs. Tauby also makes an initial assessment visit to each senior’s home in order to assess the senior’s needs and concerns. “When I visit with a survivor, I feel so privileged to be able to get to know such unbelievable people and hope to assist them in any way I can Mrs. Tauby explains. When I speak with volunteers they often say that they got a lot more than they gave.”

Indeed, the excitement that seniors feel when visitors are present impacts on the visitor in a very profound way. iVolunteer’s enthusiastic volunteers look forward to their visits almost as much as the seniors do. Sarah, an iVolunteer volunteer, describes her feelings in detail, It is so inspiring to spend time with Holocaust Survivors. They have a wealth of wisdom and knowledge to share and have such a unique view of life’s challenges. I also met a lot of wonderful people my age who live in my neighborhood through volunteering with iVolunteer.”

If you know of a Holocaust Survivor who would like to be a part of this program, or if you would like to volunteer for iVolunteer, please contact Chani Sacho at (646) 461.7748, info@ivolunteerny.com. If you are interested in learning about dedication opportunities or if you would like to book a reservation for our Fundraising Dinner, please contact us.