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7 selections of fresh vegetables
6 selections of
fresh fruits
7 varieties of
frozen meats
5 bags of
non-perishables
1 bag of paper
products and personal care items
Gifts from a Secret Pal
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At HSP we have the privilege of meeting so many diverse and wonderful people
through our Senior Citizen Project. Some of our seniors tell us wonderful
stories about their lives, others are shy and reserved, preferring to keep
to themselves. We are better for having known each of them, however, and we
love to learn from their wisdom and experience. One senior who comes to mind
as being a particularly interesting conversationalist is Sara. At 69 years
old, Sara has had a truly interesting life, and is as intelligent and
outspoken of a person as you could ever hope to meet. She is also, sadly, a
very lonely person, whose health problems severely limit her mobility and
energy. When we met Sara in 2002, we knew we could make a difference in her
life. Your contributions, Don & Lisa, empower us to make this goal a
reality. We thank you for your decision to sponsor Sara, and we wanted to
share some of this strong woman’s history with you.
Sara was born in India,
and is one of seven children. Always independent, she moved to America when
she was young, worked hard and earned a Ph.D. in applied linguistics. She
worked briefly at the University of Chicago but says that despite her
education, it was very difficult for her to find work in her field. There
was just too little demand for her skills. She moved to Austin, Texas and
worked for the IRS for several years. Despite the fact that she studied hard
to learn English and soften her accent, she says she faced a great deal of
discrimination at her job and was “unjustly” let go. This was a crippling
blow, because she lost all of her government benefits when she lost her job.
She has called her
apartment in the suburbs home for over 10 years now, but they have been
lonely years. Sara was married at one time, but it was a short lived
marriage and they had no children. They divorced 30 years ago and she has no
contact with her ex-husband at all. All the rest of her family lives in
India, including all her surviving siblings. Her many health problems keep
her from being as active as she would like. Sara suffers from diabetes, high
blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism and neuropathy which causes
numbness and pain in her legs. She also has an anxiety disorder and is
clinically depressed. To top it all off, her income is only a meager $664 a
month, which is barely enough to cover all of her expenses.
Despite her dire circumstances,
Sara tries to be optimistic about her life. She enjoys teaching her Parakeet
words in the different languages she has studied, and is proud to have a
multi-lingual bird! She is an avid animal lover and history buff who enjoys
watching Animal Planet, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel.
Reading is difficult for her because of her failing eyesight, but she
recently told us that she enjoyed the book “The Five People You Meet in
Heaven.” Sara is also determined to maintain her independence for as long as
possible. She told us that if she loses her energy in the middle of doing
something she pauses and rests, then gathers all her energy to finish it.
She is so thankful for the service which HSP provides for her. Most months
it is her only source of food. She is touched each time she receives a
delivery saying “their hearts have to be made out of gold! It’s like angels
were walking into my home.” We are grateful to you, Don & Lisa, for helping
us to serve this wonderful person, who is so moved by our combined efforts
to help her.
Things to Remember about Sara:
• Sara’s birthday is July 1, 1936
• Her income is $664 a month
• She enjoys non-fiction books and television
• Her favorite flower is the rose
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