RITA SCHIAVONNI

"I REALIZED EARLY ON THAT YES, THEY NEEDED FOOD, BUT THEY ALSO NEEDED ANOTHER KIND OF SUSTENANCE...THEY NEEDED FRIENDSHIP, THEY NEEDED SOMEONE TO CARE."

It all started for Rita Schiavonni some fifteen years ago. She began by cooking a little extra each night when she prepared her family's dinner. Then she'd deliver meals to neighborhood shut-ins in northeast Philadelphia. Now with the help from some friends Rita supervises the making and delivery of 400,000 meals each year.

Her group is called "Aid for friends Dozens of churches and synagogue groups, plus hundreds of individuals volunteer to do more than just cook and carry. They also become friends to those to whom they deliver the meals. Rita says, "I realized early on that yes, they needed food but they also needed another kind of sustenance; they needed friendship, they needed someone to care. That's why we call them 'client friends'."

"Aid for Friends" takes no government money. Rita says, "this way we can be totally independent and we don't have to worry about red tape---miles of it. We do, in kind, more than a million and a half dollars worth of service. Our budget last year was about three hundred thousand dollars. A lot of that comes from meal contributions. The rest comes from generous members of the community. I spend so much of my time now trying to fund raise.

In answer to an often asked question about appreciation, Rita says, "I tell all our volunteers not to expect appreciation. If it comes it is icing on the cake. A lot of our client-friends are old or sick...or both. Many have been forgotten or shunned by their families. Some are angry or even worse...they have given up hope. You can't expect these folks to be appreciative."

For Rita? It's all about satisfaction, not appreciation. Her satisfaction comes from knowing that she has made the lives of thousands of client friends a little brighter. And that, Rita says, is enough; "it is my gift from them."

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