On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, New York Yee Fong Toy Family Association went to Gouverneur (高雲尼) Healthcare Services’ senior center to wish the seniors a happy Chinese New Year. We gathered at our association at 12:00 noon to prepare the small packages for 210 seniors. With the help of our valuable member Yok Ngor (玉娥), we boarded a mini bus (courtesy of Shung On Mini Bus Company) with boxes of presents and a group of us from the association, which included our two presidents Gong Sum (鋼深) and Kenneth (景新), our Women’s League President Kennie (錦娉), John (文正) from our Youth League, and our Women’s League members Yok Ngor, Jin Qing (金清), May Eng (美娜), Yok Jan (玉珍), Sally (秀麗) and Elaine (昭美). We arrived at Gouverneur at exactly 2:30 p.m. and were immediately greeted by Eugene (炎正) and Jannie (慧貞) Yee. Eugene and Jannie, a married couple, are our Contact Persons at Gouverneur’s nursing home facility. They have many years of working experience at Gouverneur and are very well respected in our Asian communities. They are also board members of our association.

Our first stop was to the Temple on the 13^th floor, where the seniors would gather for meditation. Our presidents Gong Sum, Kenneth and Kennie addressed them by wishing them a Happy New Year. Kennie even spoke in both languages, Cantonese and Mandarin. They were well received by the seniors. I was very touched to see the dedication and devotion the staff has for their patients. While some of the patients are alert and of sound mind, some are in dire need. I also felt very blessed to have my health. Yok Ngor was so moved that she donated $200 to Gouverneur’s nursing home facility right on the spot.

With the help of Eugene and Jannie, we were able to wheel the boxes of presents through five floors smoothly with no incidents. We also like to thank John for his help in maneuvering all these boxes to facilitate us to get the job done smoothly. At the end of the day, we all felt a sense of self-satisfaction for doing a good deed. It reminded me of the book “A Life God Rewards” by Bruce Wilkinson. A small group of us decided to stop in a convenient store to get a lottery ticket. No, we didn’t win the lotto that night. Perhaps that is not the kind of reward God intended for us. Like planting seeds, some will grow and some will go unnoticed.

By Elaine Yee (昭美), NY