Shining Stars
They say that if you want something to get done, ask a busy person for help. Charles Ascher of West Windsor has been busy delivering Meals on Wheels for the American Red Cross for eight years — since “someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” He also volunteers for the Mercer/Middlesex/Somerset branch of the Yale Alumni Association, where he coordinates admission interview requests, and Peddie School, and for his church, Unitarian Universalist in Princeton.
“The Red Cross provides a very valuable service,” Ascher says. “Without it I don’t know what a lot of people would do come mealtime. Homebound people cannot hop in the car and get their own sustenance. The Meals on Wheels volunteer may be their only human contact during the day.”
In his role as “courier” for the organization, Ascher goes to Merrill Lynch Conference Center, where he usually assembles between 24 and 28 meals for Hightstown residents. He then takes the meals in picnic caddies to St. Paul’s Church in Hightstown and distributes them to couriers.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Ascher was raised by an aunt after both of his parents died. He graduated from the Peddie School, then went on to Yale, where he graduated from the engineering school with a major in industrial administration. He worked in marketing and sales with the Olivetti Corporation in Somerville until he retired eight years ago.
He and his wife, Mary, have two sons who graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School. Tom, a graduate of Carleton College, lives in New York with his wife and two sons. Stephen, a graduate of Yale, lives outside of Squaw Valley, California.
Ascher is among a much-needed group of volunteers for Meals on Wheels. “We need 14 volunteers every day,” says Hema Ramamurthy, coordinator for the Meals on Wheels Program. “Some of our volunteers have been with us for 30 years. Some are elderly, some are retired, some go on vacation — we always need more help.” Ramamurthy, also a West Windsor resident, volunteered for the program before she began working at the Red Cross offices.
Clients of Meals on Wheels are homebound, a convalescent, handicapped, elderly, or unable to shop and/or prepare meals. They receive their main meal as a hot lunch, including, for example, chicken, vegetable, starch, soup, milk or juice, and dessert or fruit. A cold supper meal typically contains sandwich and fruit. About 98 percent of recipients get hot meals, and some just supper. Ascher dates each meal in case any meals end up in the refrigerator. Meals on Wheels charges a nominal charge of $4.25 for lunch and $2 for supper, but no one is excluded due to inability to pay.
“Some clients can only pay for three meals a week, but we try to help by giving them five,” says Ramamurthy. To donate to the fund, mail checks payable to Meals on Wheels to American Red Cross, 707 Alexander Road, Princeton 08540. Although the service only delivers Monday to Friday, extra meals may be ordered.
The volunteers for the area Meals on Wheels program deliver more than hot meals — they say they also deliver empathy, attention, and love. Meals on Wheels recently honored its volunteers, including Ascher, at a lunch and presented them with a booklet with copies of some of the many letters that come in from happy clients. The following is just one example:
“With the death of my wife two years ago after 53 years of marriage, I was at a complete loss. Two of my three sons live not more than 15 miles away, and they and their wives are most considerate. But Monday through Friday they are at their places of employment. That being the case, dad is on his own. Don’t say, get in the car and go! I don’t drive.
“So Meals on Wheels is a godsend for me. The food is tasty but the words of conversation are priceless. The telephone is great, the mail is a big event, but a fellow human being face-to-face is priceless. God bless the volunteers and their gift of precious time in busy, busy days is much appreciated.”
Ascher’s wife, Mary, a former teacher at Hamilton’s Nottingham High School, is also a Meals on Wheels volunteer. “It’s something that I find very painless to do,” says Ascher, “and it’s giving back something to people who can’t fend for themselves. It’s very rewarding and we both find it gratifying.”
The Meals program is dependent upon the support of volunteers who can spare two hours a day, a few days each month. The American Red Cross of Central New Jersey provides meals Monday through Friday to homebound individuals in the Princeton area. To volunteer call 609-951-2120 or visit www.njredcross.org.
