Volunteer
Bring a smile to a sad face.
Seniors in nursing homes and other isolated places are often frail, lonely and bored. A short, warm Jewish visit from you can change their day. Friendly and caring folks of all ages are welcome.
“…ever since I’ve been coming back to visit and he’s very grateful for the company.”
Elissa Sanders, JEEP volunteer
Five Minutes a Day for Every Bubby and Zaidy
JEEP depends on volunteers for this program. We match volunteers of all ages with Jewish seniors in non-Jewish nursing homes and other isolated situations.
Our goal is that every Jewish senior gets a warm Jewish visit, every day, so that no Jewish senior is left out of Jewish life.
You don’t need to be a scholar. Bring yourself. Talk, listen, and share a holiday.
Ways to help
Pick what fits your time. Every role brings a little Jewish warmth to someone who needs it.
Every week
Weekly visitor
Visit one senior regularly. Get to know each other. Five minutes counts.
Holidays
Holiday visitor or driver
Help bring the holidays to people who can’t get out: Purim bags and dinners, Passover Seder meals and Rosh Hashanah dinners. In 2021, volunteers helped deliver 127 Seder meals.
Purim
Megillah reading groups
At Purim, families, friends and school groups visit care homes with the Megillah and a gragger. In Purim 2014, 10 volunteer groups reached more than 150 people in 20 locations.
Friendship
Befriend a senior
Some seniors would love a chess partner, or just a friend who comes back. Tell us what you enjoy, and we will find a match.
In volunteers’ words.
As one volunteer put it, you may get more than you give.
“She was thrilled to have a visitor and didn’t STOP talking!”
A volunteer, about a resident the staff said “won’t say a word”
“I did nothing,” … “It was they who gave me so much!”
The same volunteer
“I understand his situation, if I was in it, I’d like someone to come and visit me.”
A volunteer who visits a nursing-home resident
“That moment made my whole Purim.”
A Purim volunteer, after a bedbound man with dementia smiled at the sound of a gragger
“I was taken aback by the fact that there are so many Jews in need, scattered throughout the city, in way out places that JEEP somehow finds.”
A long-time volunteer
“I felt like I was part of the ‘army’ sent out to help fellow Jews wherever they are.”
A volunteer who delivered Passover Seder meals
Tell us you’d like to help
Fill in the form, or call or text 513-307-2386. We will talk about what fits you and introduce you to someone who would love a visit.