Jay Abate from Summit has been a SAGE volunteer since 2018, delivering Meals on Wheels and making breakfast for clients of Spend-A-Day medical adult daycare. Jay jokes that he makes terrible coffee, but SAGE “kept me on as a volunteer anyway for all these years.”
Jay feels he has been very blessed in his life so his volunteering at SAGE is his way of paying it forward by serving and giving back to others. “Our participants in SAGE Meals on Wheels are all very gracious and excited to see me.” said Jay. “We provide much more than just a meal. A lot of our participants are home bound and seem lonely. It’s very rewarding to show up and interact with them and serve them lunch.”
Jay recalls a speech Denzel Washington gave on volunteering. About how the act of giving selflessly to help others makes you feel good about what you have done. Jay thinks his volunteering is selfish in that it helps him feel good while he is helping others. He believes it’s important to role model this giving behavior to the next generation. Over the years his daughter has joined him for different volunteering opportunities and community service.
Recently, Jay was scheduled to deliver Meals on Wheels in Summit when his car wasn’t available. But that didn’t stop Jay because he didn’t want to disappoint his participants. He made his deliveries on his bicycle that day, even though it was during the multi-day heat wave where temperatures we close to one hundred.
Giving back or volunteering can be a fun and easy way to explore your interests and passions. It’s a way to find an energizing escape from your day-to-day routine of work or other commitments. To explore volunteering at SAGE call Gerald Lewis at 908-598-5517 or send an email to glweis@sageeldercare.org.