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The Neediest Cases Fund

After a Life of Hard Work, Finding Joy in the Simple Things

Malaku Donald moved to the United States from Jamaica three decades ago to provide for his 13 children. After beating cancer, he lives quietly in Queens.

Malaku Donald retired in 2016 after working as a security guard and home health aide. “I try to live within my means,” he said.Credit...Emon Hassan for The New York Times

When Malaku Donald first arrived in the United States from Jamaica three decades ago, he did not have much of a support system.

At 48, he thought a new country would give him opportunities to provide for his 13 children. Mr. Donald settled near one of his daughters in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in 1988, moving in with a friend who had come to the United States in the 1960s.

But Mr. Donald quickly found that his daughter and his friend had established their own lives, leaving him to navigate the transition to his new surroundings largely on his own.

He filled the time with work, taking jobs as a security guard and a home health aide. He saved some money and sent some to his family back in Jamaica, and tried to never live beyond his means, he said.

“Satisfy your priorities and everything else becomes secondary,” said Mr. Donald, now 79.

That principle was first instilled in Mr. Donald when he was a child. Born in the Jones Town neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, Mr. Donald said he “grew up rough” in a small, low-income community where most people knew one another.

His father was a plumber and his mother stayed home to raise Mr. Donald, his three brothers and a sister. He was independent from an early age. When Mr. Donald was 18, he became a woodworker, a common skill in Jamaica at the time, he said. He made beds and chairs for a furniture company and said he relished the creative aspect of the craft.

“When you work and get paid, the first thing you do is buy bread. In case you lose money, you know you can eat bread, drink water and go back to work,” he said, sharing one of the lessons he was taught as a young man.

Mr. Donald wanted to improve his community when he was growing up and developed an interest in politics. He said he was a candidate for a seat on a local council but decided to emigrate to the United States shortly before the election.

Upon his arrival in New York, Mr. Donald quickly found work as a security guard at the World Trade Center, where he said he was paid $5 an hour.

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Twice a week, Mr. Donald receives meals from JASA, an organization that provides services to older adults. JASA helped him pay a portion of his gas bill in June.Credit...Emon Hassan for The New York Times

A friend suggested that he apply to be a home health aide. He started his first job in that field in 1990, working 12-hour shifts seven days a week.

The work was grueling — “it’s a job most people don’t want,” Mr. Donald said — but rewarding. He was able to send money to his children, and he made connections with his clients, who appreciated the care they received.

While he was working, Mr. Donald went to school to study computer science and received an associate degree in 1998 from the Interboro Institute, a commercial college that closed in 2007 after running into trouble with state regulators.

But he was not able to find a job in the field, a setback he attributes in part to his age.

“When you are alone, one of the biggest problems is that no one advised me,” Mr. Donald said. “If I had known, I would’ve went to a more recognized college.”

He stopped working as a home health aide in 1998 and returned to work in security. A few years later, he received a prostate cancer diagnosis. Despite his health problems, he continued to work. “The kids depended on me,” Mr. Donald said.

Mr. Donald, who never married, has 10 daughters and three sons, all of whom are now grown. Four of his children live in Jamaica, and the others have started families in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Mr. Donald used an American Airlines credit card to buy their airfare when they first came to the United States.

In 2004, he went to work as a security guard at a homeless shelter in Queens, a job he said offered him more financial stability. Before retiring in 2016, Mr. Donald saved enough money to travel to Europe several times.

These days, Mr. Donald lives a quiet life in Far Rockaway, Queens.

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Mr. Donald has traveled to Portugal, England, France and Italy. He picked up souvenirs along the way, including a gold spoon from Rome.Credit...Emon Hassan for The New York Times

Now that he is retired, he said, “I don’t try to do the things I can’t do; I don’t keep up with the Joneses.”

Mr. Donald’s cancer has been in remission for over 10 years. He takes medication for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, and struggles to pay the $1,200 monthly rent for his duplex apartment, he said.

Each month, he receives $1,267 in Social Security benefits and $192 in food stamps. He also receives meals twice a week from JASA, an organization that provides services to older adults.

When Mr. Donald needed help paying his gas bill over the summer, JASA, a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation of New York and one of the seven organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, gave him $50 to cover a portion of the bill.

Mr. Donald said the assistance “does fill a gap” in his income.

It is the simple pleasures of recreation and time with his family that he finds most satisfying. He spends his days playing dominoes, solitaire and bingo, and he enjoys going to the movies with his daughters.

Mr. Donald said his only goals for the future were to “live comfortably and try to make sure the kids are on the right path.”

Donations to the Neediest Cases may be made online, or with a check or over the phone.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 28 of the New York edition with the headline: Treasuring the Simple Things After a Life of Hard Work. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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