Executive Director's Message
"Car sickness is the feeling you get when you gas up your automobile."
-- Anonymous
Of all people I have had the opportunity to meet as executive director of Meals on Wheels, I am most in awe of the volunteer drivers and deliverers of our meals. They are simply the most giving people I have ever met. Every day they venture into the community with a smile, a caring attitude, and a willingness to assist our homebound neighbors.
Although some of our volunteers have decided that the cost of gasoline has become too challenging to continue with us, many of our volunteers refuse to take that position. They care too much about the clients on their routes, and remain dedicated to our cause. One volunteer told me that she would cut back in other areas and that there ". . . is no way I'm giving up on my clients."
Meals on Wheels has been very concerned about our drivers and visitors, many of whom are retired and living on a fixed income. We worry that the current economic situation will reduce our numbers, and that our clients will have no one available to serve their needs - and, to be truthful, recruiting new volunteers during this gas price crisis has been a challenge for us.
You may be aware that the media has run recently several print, TV and radio stories about the effect of gasoline prices on nonprofit agencies. As you might expect, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland has been featured in several of these stories because of our clear reliance on our volunteers and their automobiles to accomplish our mission. I am proud to say that, in part due to some of this media coverage, some community members have stepped up to assist us. We've highlighted on our home page System Source, a major computer training firm in the area, for providing gasoline cards for our volunteers' use. Their consideration goes a long way to helping our agency meet its mission. On behalf of our clients and volunteers - Thank you, System Source!
A woman recently sent me some correspondence. Inside the envelope were two gasoline cards and a brief note. She told me to give the cards to our volunteers. If you have the capacity to donate a gas card, we hope you will consider doing so. In these trying times, every little bit helps.
There is another way in which you can be of assistance to Meals on Wheels. If you and your company workplace feel that you would like to give back to your community, and want to create a collegial experience among you and your fellow employees, I can think of no better way to achieve those goals than to help us serve our homebound clients. We would love to have you and your workplace become one of our "Lunch Bunch." Volunteering is easy and only takes an extended lunch hour to complete. We have sites throughout Central Maryland and I am sure we are in your neighborhood.
The benefits accruing to you, as the commercial says, will be "priceless."
