The Wheeler Family, JFS Orlando Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry Volunteers, at the Biltmore Estate on their road trip in North Carolina.
Corally started volunteering with JFS Orlando first, back in 2010 before she met Tim. Then a few years ago, he started volunteering with her. Pretty soon the whole family was involved, with their daughter, Elizabeth, and son, Lincoln. “Serving others in need has always been in my heart,” says Corally. “These are values and principles we’d like to instill in our children for years to come.”
Since the pandemic, the Wheeler Family, like so many others, have been spending a lot of time together and are finding new ways to have fun. “We have done family picnics by the lake, read a lot more than usual, and Facetime with grandma and grandpa.” They also took this opportunity to go on their first family road trip to Asheville, NC, where they stayed in a remote log cabin (talk about socially distant!) in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a week. “We have definitely bonded stronger as a family by staying together as much as we can and social distancing,” explains Corally.
The Wheeler Family volunteering in the Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry
The Wheelers have missed volunteering at JFS. “JFS is a wonderful place to volunteer because of its unstoppable mission to serve the Orlando community for many years now. JFS has a small food pantry but always strives to keep their shelves full to serve those in most need.” Something they admire about JFS that some people may not know is the host of other programs besides emergency food assistance they offer to those in need, like counseling and resume-building through the Family Stabilization Program. They also wish the community knew that “JFS does not only serve the Jewish community but EVERYONE in the community who needs and seeks help. For these and many other reasons we will continue to volunteer at JFS. We truly miss the people we serve and seeing their grateful and smiling faces. We also truly miss JFS Orlando’s courteous and caring staff.”
We miss you too, Corally, Tim, Elizabeth, and Lincoln! Thank you so much for choosing to give back to the community through JFS and your many years of service. We can’t wait to have you back with us!
Interested in helping your community by volunteering with JFS? Roles include helping out in the Pantry and behind-the-scenes office assistance. Although due to the pandemic volunteering at JFS Orlando is currently on hold, you can still begin your application for when the program re-opens by contacting us at 407-644-7593 ext.249 or Audrey.Cohen@JFSorlando.org.