Day 2: Seniors Supporting Seniors

Today, one in three guests at St. Anthony’s are aged 60+. One of the ways we respond to this is our weekly ‘brown bag’ grocery giveaway for needy seniors. A fabulous group of Filipino volunteers are the backbone of the volunteering operation that makes it all happen…

Rosita has been volunteering at St. Anthony’s for almost 16 years. She arrived in San Francisco with her husband in 1994 – beneficiaries of a special program that gave preferred immigration status to Filipino veterans who had served in the U.S. military abroad.

She remembers that St. Boniface – the church next door to St. Anthony’s – became home to an increasing number of catholic Filipino immigrants. And, both because of the proximity and the shared faith, it was only natural, she says, for Filipinos to begin volunteering in the old Dining Room.

Right from the start, she says, she was made welcome: “I liked volunteering here very much because I met a lot of nice people.”

There is also a great relationship with guests “who remember me and call me ‘Rosita!’”

Her task each week is to prepare for the hundreds of seniors who visit us to receive groceries. The vast majority of our senior guests – some 73% – tell us that the food they buy doesn’t last ‘til the end of the month and that they don’t have the money to get more.

The ‘brown bag’ program allows some of our most vulnerable guests to access much-needed food in a consistent and reliable way.

So each week, every week, the team assembles just as the Dining Room closes down for the afternoon. Bags are opened and set out, food donations are assembled and the team gets to work filling each bag in turn with a selection of fresh and packaged goods for seniors.

Only an hour later the bags are filled and the doors open to hundreds of neighborhood seniors

Rosita works with her friend Aurora who, at a spritely 76 years young, is enjoying an active retirement and helps out several times a month after being asked to give volunteering a try.

They work as a team, she explains, to welcome and write down the names of guests who come to collect their bags of groceries. Before guests arrive, the team also works to fill the bags with care.

“I call it the Dream Team,” she says of her colleagues. “Everyone welcomes you and if you’re sweeping, they’re mopping – and you never hear complaining!”

Even though Rosita says that the number of Filipinos she sees has started to reduce as the average age of the community increases, they remain right at the heart of our support for our most vulnerable senior guests.

We always welcome new volunteers! If you, or anyone you know, would like to serve the community we invite you to visit our web page or call 415-592-2726.