‘It’s simply marvelous’: Volunteers deliver Christmas meals to older DuPage, Kane residents

Wheaton resident Margo Parchman’s face lit up when she welcomed Raquel Lightbourne-Coley into the lobby of her apartment building Wednesday morning.

After exchanging a hug and Christmas greetings with her visitor, the 66-year-old Parchman took a seat on a comfortable couch as Lightbourne-Coley turned over a large bag containing a prepared meal, snacks and other goodies.

The delivery was courtesy of Little Brothers — Friends of the Elderly, a nationwide nonprofit group that has facilities in the Batavia area and Chicago.

“It’s simply marvelous,” Parchman said of the group and the work of its volunteers. “I think they’re wonderful.”

Lightbourne-Coley, the group’s expansion program planner, and volunteer Gladies Pascua brought gift bags to about a dozen DuPage County and Kane County residents, delivering not just food and drink but also some conversation and Christmas joy.

Volunteers had decorated each of the white bags with colorful drawings of Christmas trees, snowmen, snow-covered landscapes and other winter holiday themes. Then the bags were filled with turkey dinners purchased from Cracker Barrel, fruit cups, packaged cookies, mints, apple cider and more.

Each bag even contained a small poinsettia plant and an activity book.

Lightbourne-Coley knows the effort is appreciated.

“They get so excited about being thought of at Christmas and receiving something,” the Aurora resident said.

Pascua, of Bolingbrook, said she’s volunteered with the group for more than a decade.

“I just like spending time with the elderly and getting to know them on a more personal level,” Pascua said. “I like hearing their stories.”

Parchman has participated in the group’s activities for three or four years. She’s grateful the volunteers take time away from their families to visit her and other participants — not just at Christmastime, but year-round.

“They’ve become family to me,” she said.