Joan Kuskin is the grandmother of five wonderful adult granddaughters, and have very much missed the experience of reading to them as young children. It is therefore not surprising that her GrandPal day has become the highlight of her week, and has been since she began volunteering in 2019.

“GrandPal day is definitely the highlight of my week. The smiles, hugs, curiosity, and skills of these extraordinary kindergarteners touches my heart.

This year has been especially rewarding because of Lillian, who presented me with my very own ‘Jackson Pollack’ after our holiday break. She and her sister were inspired to create this after their Grandmother took them to tour his house and work in Long Island.

Lillian’s dream is to become an artist, and so each time we meet she brings me another of her works, which I treasure. I am thankful for the GrandPal program which has brought joy to all of us who are involved.”

Ellen Gilbert is a retired librarian. She has been doing GrandPals for about a hundred-million years, and thinks it’s the bee’s knees.

“Early on, Camryn was quick to point out that something I described as ‘blue’ was actually teal. I understood right away that this child was unusually precocious. We were delighted to discover that we share the same birthday — October 13 — and even though he is six and I am seventy-one, we are the best of pals.”