Volunteer Deborah Corenthal: Making Memories on Monday Nights

“I wanted to do something during the HIV crisis.”

Deborah Corenthal, a retired attorney, began volunteering with God’s Love in 1996. God’s Love had just moved in to our SoHo headquarters from the youth hostel on the upper west side. There was such a great need for our services that in the year prior to her start, God’s Love delivered its 1 millionth meal and a year after she began, we delivered our two millionth meal. Deborah has been with us ever since!

And Deborah has gotten her whole family involved. When she started, she originally volunteered with her daughter who was in high school at the time. Deborah continued on, volunteering every Monday evening. To this day, Deborah and her husband have made deliveries on Thanksgiving a part of their annual tradition. And, during COVID-19, her daughter has returned and started volunteering on Monday evenings, too!

Why does Deborah keep coming back? She tells us that not only is God’s Love well-organized and has work ready for our many volunteers, but she feels useful and knows that the effort she’s putting in today is making a direct impact in the life of a New Yorker tomorrow. There’s no greater feeling than that.