"People Open the Door in Tears, After Waiting for Us All Week"

Roy Habib, residing in Ness Ziona, works in commerce and economics. During the week, he is busy most hours of the day with meetings and managing urgent matters, but every Thursday afternoon, he dedicates his time to one unique project - 'Grandma Shula's Giving Project', which he leads in memory of his grandmother.

According to him, it all started about two years ago with the outbreak of COVID-19. "In the early days of the lockdown, I talked to my grandma on the phone, and in her wisdom, she said to me: 'I have dozens of grandchildren who talk to me every day, but there are elderly people who don't receive even one phone call. Just so you know – the greatest hardship in old age is loneliness. Take upon yourself the mission to bring joy to lonely elders.'"

"Grandma was never lonely," emphasizes Habib. "But she saw what happened to other elderly people, so she asked me to keep in touch with them, especially during the complex COVID-19 times."

Grandma's Legacy

"Grandma Shula immigrated from Syria in the 1940s," he recounts about his grandmother. "Initially, she lived in Jerusalem and later moved to Kfar Saba. Everywhere she lived, the neighbors knew her and called her 'Grandma Gift,' because whenever someone in the neighborhood gave birth, she'd rush to buy a gift, cook a pot of rice, and bundle everything together. Her door was always open, and whenever a child passed by the street, even if she didn't know them, she'd give them a small gift from her endless closet that never ran out of gifts. My daughters always loved visiting her; they saw her generosity, and it became ingrained in them as well."

"Grandma passed away at a ripe old age, at ninety-five," he adds. "Blessed Hashem, she saw much joy from her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was active and lucid until her very last moment. The amazing thing about her was that her giving continued until her last day, teaching us so much."

When COVID-19 subsided a bit, Habib took his grandma's words to heart. "I approached the welfare department in Ness Ziona and asked them to connect me with lonely elders in the city. We started with a list of a few elders. My wife would bake cakes every Thursday and pack them. On Friday, we'd add Shabbat candles and challah to each cake, then go out with the girls to deliver the packages to the elderly. This was during the first lockdown, so we didn't even enter homes; we just knocked on the door, left the package, and left. It was amazing to see how moved people were by the packages. They later told me they waited all week for Friday when the door would open; this delivery truly uplifted them."

However, the project that started small quickly expanded and grew significantly. "We received more and more calls every week," he notes. "People called to tell us about lonely seniors who'd be delighted to receive deliveries, and the welfare department also drew our attention to additional complex cases. Meanwhile, our volunteer group also grew and now includes not just me and my daughters but four other families who help with distribution. We currently have between 50 to 60 seniors receiving packages from us every week, with each volunteer family having a fixed distribution line, and the seniors they know are already waiting for them. Now, thank Hashem, there are no COVID-19 restrictions; we don't have to stay at the door but can enter, sit with the seniors, and inquire about their well-being. In some cases, very close bonds have formed, and the seniors have even invited us to their birthdays and holiday gatherings."

"The bond is so close that last week, an elderly woman fell in her home, and the first call she made was to me because she only knows me; she has no one else to turn to. We are aware of this, so if, for example, we travel for Shabbat, we always ask another family to back us up because there's no way the deliveries won't arrive."

A Chain of Volunteers

How does the project technically operate today?

"Every Thursday afternoon, we place special boxes outside the door intended for collecting cakes. It's amazing to see how from early afternoon until midnight, deliveries keep coming, constantly bringing more cakes, some with a note or sticker attached, sometimes a cute drawing by a child, and so the boxes fill up. In the morning, we add the challahs and candles, and then go out to distribute. The project has completely become a community effort. Although we started it, we couldn't have continued it alone. Now it's not just ours but belongs to everyone involved and part of this volunteer chain."

And there are also special heartwarming stories. "Last week, we received 40 cakes from a teacher who heard about the project and decided to organize a baking session for her entire class. She talked to them about the theme of giving and then baked cakes with all the children, and they all brought cakes and greeting cards here in the afternoon. There's also a group of kindergarten children, where each week a different child is chosen to bring us a cake, and even a group of retired women decided to join the initiative. They bake cakes, and I specifically drive to them to pick them up."

Is there ever a time when the boxes you prepared remain empty?

"There are Thursdays when I tell my wife it seems the boxes are unusually empty, fearing there might not be enough cakes. But she always tells me, 'Don't worry, by morning, you'll see they'll be full.' And it's true. There's never been a Friday when we opened the door and didn't see boxes full of cakes."

Habib emphasizes that as the days pass, he understands the complicated situation some seniors are in and how right his grandma was when she claimed that loneliness is the greatest challenge in old age. "It turns out there are homes where the door doesn’t open at all from one Friday to the next. Some seniors are in very low socio-economic situations, and we hear from them that they have no heaters or money for medicine, but the meeting with us always warms their hearts. I'm not sure they need the cake and challah as much as they need these few minutes we spend with them. For them, it's a whole world, and we only gain. I'm sure my daughters absorb values of giving and contribution to others, which they would never have received in any other way."

To what extent do you aim to advance the project?

"We are always happy to accept 'new clients'; our hands are open, and the community's volunteerism is amazing. Unfortunately, there are weeks when the list shrinks, as is the way of the world, but there are always new additions, and the more, the merrier."