Chicken Soup & A Smile

Estie Greenberg and Barbara Greenberg

Barbara Greenberg delivers more than just soup to senior citizens.

RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Barbara Greenberg of White Lake has been nominated to be our Volunteer of the Week for giving her time to the Chicken Soup with Love Program at the Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce/Walled Lake. The program is part of the Chabad Jewish Center’s Smile on Seniors program with the goal to bring cheer and companionship into the lives of seniors.

Co-director of the program Estie Greenberg (no relation to Barbara) says over the years Barbara has become like family to the Chabad of Commerce. “Her care and concern for all those she visits goes above and beyond. She is the highlight of the week to so many when she visits them,” Estie said

When Barbara retired, she became a dedicated volunteer to the senior community. Before she started volunteering with the center, she used to volunteer with a Jewish hospice for about 12 years.

“I became involved with these people. I got to know them, and you have to get to know them in order to make the visits worthwhile for them,” Barbara said.

When she stopped volunteering at the hospice, the loss became too much for her and she wanted to find another way to give back. “This opportunity came up where I could deliver soup. So I started doing that and talking to people, and it’s become the highlight of my week,” she said.

Almost every week, Barbara delivers Estie’s chicken matzah ball soup to sick, homebound senior citizens or anyone who could use a taste of Shabbat in the Commerce and West Bloomfield area. “The soup provides a physical and emotional nurturing connection with their Jewish community. I am merely the conduit,” Barbara said.

Barbara says she’s happy to give back to the community this way. “It’s a way to keep an eye out — not just to deliver soup, but to keep in touch. To see how they’re doing and how the caregivers are doing. I get just as much out of it, if not more, than I think they do.”

Barbara says she has become friends with those she delivers to, such as Arlene Salter, who she befriended several years ago.

“She’s amazing — the highlight of my week,” Arlene said. “When I am down, she lifts me up.”

Barbara said she is happy to connect with people she delivers to and hear about their lives and their family’s lives. “It’s actually communicating with them and seeing how they are and how their week has gone and wishing them a good Shabbos because I deliver on Fridays. I make that human connection that Chabad likes to do and that’s why I do it,” Barbara said.

She plans to continue to volunteer with Chicken Soup with Love for as long as she can.

For information about the Chicken Soup with Love program, visit www.jewishcommerce.org/smile-on-seniors.