“I love our deliveries – they are always about so much warmth.”
Co-founder and head of the volunteer department of Starenki, Yulia Fituni, shared her experience of delivering aid to the elderly.
Yulia Fituni, co-founder of Starenki and head of the volunteer department of the Foundation, shares her experience of delivering aid to the elderly. Her emotions can energize anyone, which is why she shares her impressions of the deliveries in this post.
“Deliveries, like the Foundation in general, gather the brightest people around them—sincere, ready to help. It’s about incredible connections and dialogues you can hear while talking to the elderly you visit with a package. Sometimes these dialogues contain so much strength, and sometimes they painfully bring you back to reality.”
So what is a delivery with the Starenki Foundation like?
On Thursday morning, I arrived at the Territorial Center, met with a volunteer driver, we loaded 12 aid packages into the car, met a social worker who accompanied us the entire time, and set off to visit the elderly who were already waiting for us.
The addresses were located in one neighborhood, so we managed to finish in 2.5 hours.
First address, first meeting, hugs, lots of gratitude for coming to them.
– How are you? – I ask.
She smiles, as if surprised that I’m addressing her and that I’m interested.
I asked this question to each person, sometimes noticing something around and genuinely admiring how amazing the smell of the frying was, how clean her apartment was, or how beautiful the shawl she was wearing.
The answers are always different, but always sincere and honest, not for formality, but because they have something to tell about their lives.
– So, how are things?
– Everything is fine with me, – she smiles, looking somewhere inside me, – I’ve been living alone for the last 11 years, first got into a car accident with my son, I survived, he didn’t, and later my husband passed away. But I don’t complain, no, no, – and she continues to smile sincerely, – I have bread and water, and that’s good, and the neighbors help me, and now you come. Thank you, dear ones, immensely. Our youth is golden, golden. Health to you, and may the war end soon.
I hugged her tightly, saying that I would take this ability to think positively with me, and she should take care of herself and this strength inside her.
10 minutes at the first address, and I felt like I lived a small life. Breathe in, breathe out.
We still had 11 addresses to go, sometimes we were greeted by a dog barking with joy because he was given a bone, and I would kneel down, pet him, almost barking in response, while his owner, an old man who must have been a very attractive man in his younger days, signed the documents and told me about the dog with such love.
In one apartment, it smelled like grandma’s home: fried onions and finely chopped carrots on the board, waiting to be added to the onions. Three seconds, and I was thrown into my childhood memories: I’m 7 years old, tangled hair, freckles all over my face, the dirtiest and happiest kid in the village, telling my grandma I won’t eat borscht =)
I’d like to go back there now.
In some places, the elderly didn’t want to talk, avoided eye contact, thanked us, and sighed. We didn’t press them with questions.
Our deliveries are, first and foremost, community-building and public volunteering. People visit people to genuinely support them, sincerely ask “how are you?”, and honestly share something about themselves.
The elderly might invite you for tea, to visit, and that’s okay, that’s great! You should always agree. Because our activity is about people and for people. We didn’t just bring a package, we came to support them.
We are often asked if there is a need and how to prepare for the delivery?
No way) You have the desire, and we will tell you everything during the briefing and gently guide you through the entire delivery process.
The only preparation is to be honest and sincere with those you visit.
But it seems this applies to all of life!