Kudos to Sharon Littman for her dedication to our elders

The mission of the Jewish Pavilion is "enriching the lives of residents in elder-care communities." This has been especially challenging during the pandemic when we cannot visit regularly and provide the hugs, companionship and holiday festivities needed. In an effort to connect, the Jewish Pavilion staff, leadership and volunteers have instituted new programs to enhance their lives such as phone calls, cards and gift bags. "The gift bags have brought so much joy to our elders said Nancy Ludin, Jewish Pavilion CEO, who has received numerous calls, emails and thank you notes since the program was started.

Sharon Littman, an active member of the Friends of the Jewish Pavilion Board took it upon herself to organize 350 gift bags for seniors every other month. This entailed using her home and garage for storage of gift bags and supplies, purchasing extra snacks and holiday-related goodies to go in the bags and hundreds of hours devoted to stuffing and sealing the goody bags. Littman has engaged other Jewish Pavilion leaders in this task including Marci Gaeser, Pam Ruben, Penny Goldstein and Susie Stone along with her mahjong buddies.

While the original plan was to only provide goody bags during the pandemic, Littman has determined that they should continue after the pandemic as well, because they have been so positively received. "It is all about the snacks," said Littman, who has taken it upon herself to purchase thousands of bags of chips and crackers this year.

Littman is always exploring additional gift bag ideas such as apple sauce and pudding - soft snacks recommended by Pam Ruben who shared concerns about potential swallowing issues amongst the elderly. Kudos to Littman and her wonderful friends for bringing so much happiness to seniors who reside in elder-care communities.

The Jewish Pavilion's next holiday delivery will be for Shavuot, May 17, and will include a holiday description and wonderful cheese snacks.