By: Peter D. Kramer
Perhaps it’s his British aversion to tooting his horn or because the time investment is small, or both. Paul O’Reilly downplays his volunteering as if it’s no big deal.
But it is a big deal to Roberto Pugliese, the 79-year-old Port Chester man who — along with four other clients — awaits O’Reilly’s monthly visits with groceries from Hillside Food Outreach, a Mount Kisco-based nonprofit that feeds hundreds of families in Westchester, Putnam and Fairfield counties.
And it’s a big deal to the people who receive clothing from Armonk’s 914 Cares, where O’Reilly volunteers each Monday, sorting clothing-drive donations for the region’s neediest children, from newborns to teens.
It’s all in a volunteer’s job description, the retired O’Reilly says with a shrug.
“I just had time on my hands,” he says. “There’s only so much golf you can play, so many times you can go (to the gym).”
A native of Bournemouth overlooking the English Channel, O’Reilly came to the States in 1992 to handle finance for his U.K. firm’s new acquisition, a company that ran trade shows and conferences. He and his wife, Monica, live in Harrison, where she runs the media company they founded. They raised their daughter here: Sammi, 25, is now studying health policy at Harvard.
“I think it’s a way to give back, ultimately,” O’Reilly says. “Food insecurity is a big deal for a lot of communities and a lot of households. So I’d like to be able to do something about it.”
Which is what brings him to a warehouse off Bedford Road in Mount Kisco once a month, shopping for pasta and cereal, canned goods, beans and rice. In the walk-in refrigerator, he finds fresh fruit, a few eggplants, a head of broccoli.
“I know Roberto likes frozen salmon,” he says, bagging a couple of fillets. “Our deliveries help our clients to stay independent, to not have to go into assisted living, which is very important.”
He knows he’s helping his clients, one delivery at a time, with food intended to last them a few weeks, more if they stretch it. O’Reilly says the work has changed him.
“You become much more aware of people living without the benefits that you have. You’re looking out for people. You become more patient.”
Kathy Purdy, Hillside’s CEO and founder, says her volunteers like the personal touch the work affords them. “With Hillside, you don’t come in and do a project or just give money. You come in and actually see what we’re doing because you help us deliver.”
O’Reilly arrives at Roberto Pugliese’s tidy home, his arms laden. Pugliese, a retired baker, was born in Calabria, Italy and moved to Argentina in 1954 before coming to the U.S. in 1978. His accent owes much to his birthplace.
His dining room brims with family photos of his wife, Phyllis, who died in 2019. Phyllis as a child. A plaque given to Phyllis from her employer. Phyllis on a trip.
“When she was a little kid, 6 years old, she played so good the accordion they put her in the front of the band,” he says with pride, eyes twinkling.
When O’Reilly the Brit turns the conversation to the global obsession, soccer, Pugliese shows a flair for diplomacy.
O’Reilly: “Do you support Argentina in football?”
Pugliese: “I support Italy. I support Argentina. I support America.”
O’Reilly: “Not England?”
Pugliese: “Yes. Yes. Why not?”
They laugh then head to the kitchen to unpack the groceries before O’Reilly is on his way.
(Learn more about Hillside Food Outreach at https://hillsidefoodoutreach.org and about 914 Cares at www.914cares.org)
This article was originally published by The Journal News on November 21, 2024 and can be viewed here.
About Hillside Food Outreach
As food insecurity reaches its highest point nationally since the 2008 financial crisis, Hillside Food Outreach continues to deliver high-quality, nutritious groceries free of charge to low-income and limited mobility families, seniors, veterans, and the chronically ill in New York and Connecticut. What began as a micro-endeavor in 1997 by founder Kathy Purdy has grown into an essential food delivery organization, now serving more than 2,000 neighbors in need throughout Westchester, Putnam, and Fairfield Counties, each and every month. For more information, visit hillsidefoodoutreach.org.