IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
By Robin Shapiro
Year-end holiday time reminds me of what Hillel said: “IF I AM ONLY FOR MYSELF, WHAT AM I? If not now, WHEN?”
When my friends and clients need a favor, I am usually there for them. I’ve taken in mail, tended to gardens, picked up ice for parties, put out garbage for sanitation workers, acted as a babysitter, shopped for food/clothes, shoveled snow, etc.
I donate to many groups: Rockaway Little League, organizations like Hadassah, Temple Ohab Zedek, St. Francis De Sales, Juvenile Diabetes, etc. I give to the United Way, The Sam Fund for Cancer Survivors, Mt Kenya Trust (Africa), etc.
In the spirit of community service, my husband donates time as a volunteer high school math tutor – he has maintained his teacher certification. A few years ago, he tutored students at The Scholars’ Academy. He tutors some of my clients’ kids for free, although the pandemic somewhat restrained him earlier in the year.
We plan to continue such good works in 2024. We’d like to wish all our Rockaway friends and neighbors a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. Call me. Love, Robin.
