Phil Lorang Keeps Busy with a Multitude of Tikkun Olam Projects

By Mimi Pollack

SAN DIEGO — The volunteer of the month for March is a modest, unassuming man who is also an energizer bunny! Phil Lorang, 71, likes to live by the motto he says a wise co-worker once told him: “After you retire, you should spend each day by keeping your mind active for two hours, exercising physically for two hours, and helping other people for four hours.”

For most people that would be a tall order, but not for Lorang. He strives for his best and his compassion goes a long way.

When I asked the Tierrasanta resident where he volunteered and what his duties were, Lorang replied with a lengthy list of various things:

• I deliver hot lunches to seniors for JFS one day a week. My (now deceased) wife and I started doing this during COVID, after the College Avenue Senior Center suspended operations because of COVID.
• I tutor an Israeli boy in English conversation via Zoom one hour a week for a program called Israel Connect. This is my fourth year doing this.
• I tutor two San Diego elementary school children once a week at the Malcom X library, in a program called Uplift San Diego. Mostly I help them with their homework, and basic arithmetic.
• I help run a weekly Bridge session for seniors at Temple Emanu-El. Sometimes I drive one or two of the players to and from the session.
• For the next 7 weeks, until April 15, I will be helping low-income families file their tax returns, in a program run by JFS and IRC. I will be doing this for 4-8 hours a week. I’ve done tax preparation like this off and on since 2019.
• I’m enrolled as a volunteer driver in JFS’s On the Go program. I try to do this at least twice a month, but often I forget to sign up enough in advance.
• At Tifereth Israel Synagogue, I recently organized and now chair a Kitchen Committee. Our mission is to keep the kitchen looking neat and ready for use at all times. We are slowly making small improvements. I also sometimes help prepare the kiddush lunch to be served after Shabbat morning services.
• Right now, I’m hosting a young “shinshin” from Israel for several months, a young man named Neta Laytter.  [Shinshins are emissaries who spend the year between high school graduation and service in the Israel Defense Force working in Jewish schools in the Diaspora.]
• I’m one of three members of Tifereth Israel’s “contact team” for a refugee family from Uganda and the Republic of Congo. The family came to San Diego with assistance from JFS. Presently, our goal is to help the family navigate the complicated process of obtaining green cards, so they will be more secure in the U.S.
• Occasionally, I do small handyman projects for seniors as part of JFS’s Fix-It program. The program aims to help seniors stay in their homes by making safety and other improvements.

The above is quite an impressive list, so I asked him why he liked volunteering and if he had any memorable or defining moments. He replied, “Volunteering keeps me busy, and it lets me help people who can’t help themselves in particular ways. I lived far from my own parents as they aged, so my siblings helped them continue to live in their home when it got difficult. Volunteering also gives me face-to-face contact with other people, which I know is important for mental health as one ages.”

He continued, “I have also learned a lot. A couple of years ago, I was paired with a Druze boy in Israel for purposes of English tutoring. He was working on both Hebrew and English at the time. It was very interesting to learn a bit about his life and culture. He was quite modern and savvy about the world. I’m pretty sure he used AI to write his end-of-year thank you note to me. I know he often used AI for his schoolwork.

“I remember a few of my hot lunch clients who sadly have died between my weekly visits. It’s good every week to see the others still on my route list. One is 100 years old. I also remember a client family from Egypt. Every time I delivered, they had some sort of sweet ready for me. Those never made it back to my car.”

Lorang is another excellent example of why I am writing a monthly column on volunteers. You can have your ups and downs while volunteering, but in the end, it still is a win-win situation for all those involved.

Lorang, himself, has had an interesting life. Before he converted to Judaism many years ago, he grew up in a traditional, Catholic, Navy family In Paradise Hills. He left San Diego for college at M.I.T. and afterwards got a job with the EPA in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That is where he met and married his wife, Ellen, and they raised four children. He converted to Judaism after they were married. They were both involved in their temple and Jewish life together while raising their children.

His work was in the field of air pollution regulation. His last 16 years with the EPA were in the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina. When he was a few years away from retiring, he got approval to work remotely in San Diego, and they moved here in 2016. He retired in 2019. Sadly, his wife of 44 years passed away in spring 2024.

To honor his wife and to keep himself busy, he continues in the tradition of Tikkun Olam. His life as a volunteer helps others and also helps himself.

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Mimi Pollack is a freelance writer based in La Mesa, California.