Lifetimes of Giving
by Laura Breen Galante
Dolores Indek
Landscaping, painting, cooking, pampering the homeless, educating and mentoring teens, visiting the elderly... Dolores Indek gives back in every way imaginable.
Dolores spends her Monday nights at the First Baptist Church of Apopka, where volunteers feed the homeless and offer comfort services. Dolores earned her cosmetology license specifically so she could give manicures, pedicures, and hand massages to homeless women who come for dinner. She also assembles and hands out toiletry bags.
“I have all kinds of goodies that people donate to me,” Dolores says. “It makes the women feel better just to have somebody work on their hands.”
During her 50-year career at Lockheed Martin, Dolores was head of community services outreach, which is how she began much of her charitable work. She helped teach children to read through the Orange County Public Schools Read To Succeed program, and she volunteered with the Junior Achievement program for 43 years. She was also part of a pilot expansion program that brought Junior Achievement to the Orange County Jail on 33rd Street for boys ages 14-17.
“I started the program and liked it so much that I stayed for 17 years,” Dolores says. “If you can reach one kid, it’s worth it.”
She also led a group of volunteers who performed maintenance on houses in Orlando’s Washington Shores area. With guidance from the mayor’s office, the volunteer crew spent one morning per month painting, landscaping, and fixing up homes that were in disrepair. Dolores actually racked up so many volunteer hours that Lockheed Martin nominated her to run with the Olympic Torch for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics!
“I have the torch on my wall,” says Dolores, who also received the Jefferson Award from WESH Channel 2.
To this day, Dolores arranges a team of volunteers who cook meals for the Coalition for the Homeless; they meet at Congregation Ohev Shalom once per month. She’s also active at The Jewish Pavilion, which serves residents in elder-care communities.
“I like to visit with those who don’t get a lot of visitors,” she says.
When she’s not busy with all of that, you can often find Dolores volunteering at Ohev Shalom’s Judaica store.
But one of her favorite ways to give back is working at the Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry run by Jewish Family Services.
“I love working at the pantry,” says Dolores. “When you have somebody come to the door, and you give them a bag of food, and they say thank you or give you a hug, it’s just amazing.”
Giving back is in Dolores’s DNA. She recalls when her grandparents owned a restaurant and bar in Miami across from the Union Mission.
“They only hired homeless people to work in the restaurant,” she says. When a family came in and only ordered hot water, eight-year-old Dolores told her grandfather, who responded by giving the family a menu and paying for their meals. “They were always big on helping. I didn’t come from a very wealthy family, but we were always trying to help people.”
It’s a tradition that Dolores has carried forward for decades.
“I love doing community service,” she says. “What’s a few minutes? If you can help a little bit, what is it, a few hours out of your month? You always have time. And you find out how lucky you are.”
Lottie Cohen
Ninety-six-year-old Lottie Cohen has been a steady presence at Orlando Health hospitals for more than 50 years.
She began her service when her two sons, Rick and Russell, started school.
“After the boys went to school, I had the time to devote to something worthwhile,” Lottie says.
Back then, hospital volunteers had to be sponsored. A friend from Temple Israel sponsored Lottie so she could volunteer at what was then called the Orange Memorial Hospital. She joined a volunteer group called the Pink Ladies and helped out in hospitality services. Lottie and others pushed wheeled carts from room to room, checking to see if patients wanted or needed anything. Patients could purchase any number of items, from writing paper to candy.
By 1975, the hospital was called Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC), and Lottie was appointed to the board at ORMC and served as the 25th president of the Pink Ladies from 1975-1976. She was also their corresponding secretary.
Lottie has always loved dogs. She raised Irish setters and had a beloved golden retriever. She even showed her Irish setter Scarlet in a dog show at Madison Square Garden. At the hospital, she encouraged and organized the use of service dogs, arranging time for handlers to bring their dogs to visit patients.
“I started with one dog,” Lottie says, “and I think they have about 10 dogs now going to different hospitals.”
In honor of Lottie’s dedicated service, she eventually received her own parking spot, complete with a sign, in the ORMC parking garage.
“It was a nice gesture,” she says.
At 96, Lottie no longer drives, so Orlando Health’s current director of volunteer services actually picks her up for her volunteer shifts.
“I look forward to going every time,” says Lottie.
In 2020, Lottie celebrated 57 years of volunteer work with Orlando Health. If you do the math, that totals more than 22,000 hours of tireless service. Unsurprisingly, Lottie is considered the longest-serving volunteer in Orlando Health’s history.
“It’s part of your life, that’s what you do,” she says. “It’s very satisfying.”
For the past 10 years, Lottie has faithfully visited Orlando Health twice a week. Tuesdays are dedicated to the eighth floor at the downtown complex’s Cancer Center, and she spends Thursdays in the ER. She dons her red uniform coat over a crisp white blouse, white pants, white stockings, and white shoes. On her jacket shines a pin denoting 50 years of service and another noting her 22,000 volunteer hours.
While working four-hour shifts (and sometimes longer), Lottie refills supplies for each room and assists the nurses in any way she can. She also bakes cookies and creates floral arrangements at home and brings them to patients. She especially enjoys visiting with patients who may not have other visitors, sitting quietly in support or simply listening to them talk. Her calm, kind demeanor puts patients at ease, and they are thankful for her company.
“Volunteering is part of my life,” says Lottie. “I always tried to help wherever I could. It’s very satisfying for me to do that. You’re missing something in your life if you don’t volunteer, and you get much appreciation from those you help.”
An avid stamp collector and caretaker of neighborhood cats, Lottie was thrilled that volunteers were allowed back into the hospital in late October of this year, and she has no plans to stop serving anytime soon.
“I’m going to try to get to 60 years,” she says.