Judy Lerch is a retired teacher from Wilson Area School District where she taught for 30 years. She has been volunteering with Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley for over 16 years, logging 25,142 miles and 4,211 hours of delivering meals.
Surprisingly Judy did not plan to volunteer with Meals on Wheels. She thought it would be too sad to visit homes of homebound seniors. She can recall the first Christmas volunteering with Meals on Wheels. She couldn’t believe that some of her clients had no one to cook for them on Christmas Day. Instead of discouraging her, this day encouraged Judy to continue volunteering with Meals on Wheels and to add more delivery days to her schedule. Judy is not one to sit idle. She enjoys being active in the community and giving back to those in need. Judy delivers meals in the Easton area three days a week and is willing to put in extra days when needed.
Throughout the years, Judy has formed bonds with the clients and now considers many of them her friends. On many occasions, Judy goes above and beyond for her clients; taking out their trash, bringing their newspaper inside, or just sitting and talking with them for that extra five minutes. When a client isn’t feeling well one day or is not home, Judy is quick to alert the Meals on Wheels staff and will closely follow up with staff to ensure that the client is ok.
Along with her volunteering, Judy has been a dedicated donor to Meals on Wheels since 2005. Every month, Judy donates in memory of her mother to honor her mother’s legacy of giving back to the community. While Judy calls her donations modest, she feels that even if her donation can go towards helping one person each month, then she is making a difference.
Judy is a dedicated volunteer and she positively contributes her time and talents to benefit her community! Thank you, Judy!