Passover presented many challenges for the Jewish community this year, particularly for the elderly who were housebound due to the pandemic. Many were despondent that they would not be surrounded by family and friends for the sedars and unable to prepare their home as they traditionally would. A key problem was grocery stores simply did not have the capacity to meet the demand for home delivery.
That is when Zalmy Fried and the team at Zeh Lzeh came to the rescue. Modeled after a similar initiative in Toronto, this group of 180 volunteers ran errands for seniors living in the greater metropolitan area, from Cote St Luc to Outremont and Laval. They bought groceries, delivered prepared meals and in one case brought a Haggadah to the home of an elderly senior citizen.
“Zalmy was the driving force behind this service,” explained his friend Shloime Moskowitz. “He recruited the volunteers, answered texts an emails at all times of day and night, directed traffic and even did a lot of the deliveries himself. When the community faces challenges, we all turn to Zalmy. He is someone we can count on, and for this we are unbelievably grateful.”