Denis Leary - Veterans Inc

inkpage 6Veterans Inc.’s Sweetest Volunteer!Every Thursday morning for twoyears, Alice Pearson has parked hercar outside the front door of 69 GroveStreet and emerged with stacks ofcontainers holding the high pointof the day for many Veterans Inc.residents: homemade dessertscreated in Alice’s own kitchen.Preparing dessert for the nearly 100 peopleutilizing the Veterans Inc. hot lunch programrequires a precise regimen. Alice shops onMonday, and bakes on Tuesday and Wednesday.Before she can start baking each week’s five cakes,she has preliminary work to do, laying out dishes,utensils and ingredients in a staging area in herhallway, because her home’s “little, tiny” kitchenis too small. After bringing the cakes to GroveStreet, she creates individual portions and addsfinishing touches such as real whippedcream, caramel or chocolate sauce,cookie bits and maraschino cherries,transforming her labors of love intoworks of art. For Easter, she created afrosted cake topped with green coconut,Easter eggs and marshmallow bunniesand chicks.“After I retired, I wanted to volunteer,” Aliceexplains. “I used to bring in the desserts and leave,but Amanda, who coordinates the volunteers,asked if I would like to have a regular day tobring the desserts, and to serve them myself so theveterans would know who was cooking for them.”Alice’s dedication earned her an OutstandingVolunteer Award from the United Way. Whenasked why she comes back week after week Alicesays, “We owe the veterans a debt of gratitude.This can hardly pay back our debt, but it’s thelittle bit I can do for them. I love seeing the guysand chatting with them: they add enjoymentto my life. Everyone has their own stories, andthey are very appreciative. I get more joy out ofcooking for them than they can ever beginto know.”“We owe the veterans a debt of gratitude. I get more joy outof cooking for them than they can ever begin to know.” — AliceVolunteers in ActionA dozen volunteers from All Saints Church in Worcester(right) have been purchasing, preparing and serving a monthlydinner at the Grove Street program for almost two years aspart of a larger Feeding Ministry outreach group. VolunteerConnie Ekstrom says the group’s commitment is quite natural:“They’ve done for us; we have got to do for them.”2010VolunteerOrientationScheduleFrom serving meals to running in road races, VeteransInc. depends on its volunteers to help our veterans. Weencourage you to join this diverse group of compassionatecommunity members!Register for a Volunteer Orientation by contactingAmanda Riik at (508) 791-1213, ext. 123 oramandariik@veteransinc.org.Upcoming orientations are onWednesdays from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.:July 14August 18