By:Chris Munzing
Shopping for the Homebound is a service that has been provided by Project Challenge for seven years, according to program coordinator Lori Mulqueen. The program assists six to eight homebound seniors each week, with the help of six volunteers.
Shopping for the Homebound is one of the quiet community programs that can boost the quality of life for a city with more than 3,200 citizens over age 75, according to the 2000 census. Seniors find it especially helpful when the sidewalks are icy or when it is bitterly cold outside.
The operation is simple enough. Mulqueen takes clients' orders on Thursday mornings and writes each item down, including brand, size and sale price, when applicable. She then passes each list on to a volunteer, who goes shopping.
Greenberger, retired from a career in Manhattan's garment district, has been doing this for 11 years. The local branch of Nassau County's now-defunct Department of Senior Citizen Affairs and the Long Beach Advisory Board for the Aging used to run the program before Project Challenge took it over. It was in cooperation with the county that Greenberger started volunteering after seeing a newspaper advertisement, and he continued when the program changed hands.
"I saw the ad and I said, 'I could do that,'" he said, surveying C-Town's selections of yogurt. A resident of the West End and a member of the Long Beach Historical Society's Board of Trustees, he has been shopping for the homebound ever since. "It gives you a good feeling."
The clients ask for everything from canned corn to paper towels to Entenmann's cakes to frozen waffles. Greenberger said most of the requested items come from C-Town's circular, where the sale items are listed. "Most of them are on a fixed income," he said. "They know what they want and we pick it out."
Marie Pretino, who has used the service for several years, said that it is very helpful, since she has limited mobility and uses a wheelchair. Pretino said that in the past she depended on others to do her shopping for her. She said that once she heard of Shopping for the Homebound several years ago, however, she signed up right away. Now, she gets exactly what she wants on a regular schedule and has it delivered right to her door. Pretino has since convinced her aunt to join the program.
"I'm on a certain budget," she said, adding that she looks for sale items whenever she can. "It's so great. I can make my order and get my food and not impose on people." Pretino said the volunteers do a great job.
Greenberger said he tries to get one particular person's order every week, because it's a large one. He said he feels he's helping more when there's a large order in front of him. His list included bananas, chicken, cans of tuna, and bathroom tissue. "He likes to fill up the basket," Ezra said, smiling.
"I like when I have to get two baskets," Greenberger responded.
The list also included a regular item that Greenberger admits confuses him. "She orders six rolls of paper towels every week," he laughed. "I don't know what she does with them."
Ezra started volunteering for Shopping for the Homebound five years ago. He found out about the program by simply walking through Project Challenge's doors. He had just lost his wife and wanted to get out of the house. "I asked them for something to do," he said. "[Late Project Challenge founder] John White interviewed me and that was it."
Ezra finds the experience so rewarding because he knows that it is people his age who need the program. "There are people who can't get out of bed in the morning," he said. "[People] that can't dress themselves. I'm lucky enough to get out of bed in the morning. You can't think of yourself all the time."
C-Town tallies up each completed order and prepares it for delivery. Project Challenge then calls each recipient and tells them how much their order came to, and the seniors pay the C-Town delivery worker. C-Town, which normally charges shoppers for grocery delivery, waives the fee for the homebound seniors.
"We think it's a good idea," C-Town manager Barry Koff said. "[Homebound seniors] need this kind of service."
C-Town has been involved with the program for years, after White came to the supermarket to ask for their assistance, according to Koff. Koff said C-Town agreed to help and offered free delivery, adding that the store will help with the program for as long as it's available. "As long as they keep shopping, we'll keep doing it," said Koff.
