Volunteers are the heart of VNA and all we do. In efforts to make volunteering easier, VNA is excited to announce the creation of a new volunteer portal! With the new portal, you will be able to schedule routes, set up group events, and get more information regarding volunteer opportunities.

In the coming weeks, you’ll get a sneak peek at this new technology which will make it easier for you to volunteer and make VNA Meals on Wheels even more efficient in serving Dallas’ hungry, homebound seniors. The web-based volunteer portal includes the following features:

• - Quick sign up for new volunteers

• - Simple self-scheduling, including changing your delivery dates

• - Automatic reminders for your upcoming routes

• - Sign up for special projects like Pet Care, Holiday Gift and Friends on Wheels

• - Easy management of your delivery groups

• - Simple Day of Caring sign up for community, religious and corporate groups

As a loyal VNA Meals on Wheels volunteer, you can be a champion for this exciting tool. Here’s how you can help:

• - Learn more about the new technology and how it will help fulfill VNA’s mission

• - Volunteer to test the new system

• - Spread the word with friends, family and others

With your help, we can recruit more volunteers and serve more seniors! Following are some outcomes we hope to achieve:

• - Recruit and retain more volunteers

• - Simplify the scheduling process

• - Engage volunteers to help out in other areas

At the 2017 VNA Volunteer Appreciation event, we announced the creation of an annual outstanding volunteer award named after Mary Bartholow, lifetime member of the VNA Board of Directors and group coordinator for the St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church meal delivery team. Since 1987, Mary has tirelessly worked to reduce senior hunger in Dallas by engaging and supporting hundreds of volunteers, cultivating financial donations to add more seniors to service, and going above and beyond to identify and meet the additional non-food needs of clients on her church’s routes. Each year we will recognize an outstanding volunteer who embodies Mary’s qualities of servant leadership, compassion, and cheerful giving. Their names will be added to a plaque displayed at the VNA Haggerty Center to encourage and inspire future generations of VNA Meals on Wheels volunteers.

If you would like to nominate yourself or a fellow volunteer for this award, please contact us at volunteer@vnatexas.org for a nomination form. The 2018 outstanding volunteer will be announced in the June issue of Behind The Wheel.

Whether you are new volunteer or a seasoned veteran, below are some tips to make sure your next delivery goes smoothly!

Volunteer Spotlight Lourice Collier, Meals on Wheels Heroine Oak Cliff Star: Last year, Lourice delivered more than 800 meals on her weekly Thursday route in Oak Cliff, an area where VNA has a high volume of clients who have aged in place as well as a growing need for more volunteers. She began her involvement with VNA as a substitute driver during the summer months and then became engaged year round after she retired. What led her to VNA: In 2005, Lourice contacted VNA after her mother suffered a stroke. She chose VNA for her mother’s care as we offered both meal service and in-home healthcare. Around the same time, she was thinking about getting involved as a volunteer and was invited by a friend to give VNA Meals on Wheels a test drive. After meeting our clients, she was hooked!

What would she be doing if she wasn’t volunteering for VNA:
Lourice loves to volunteer, travel, and spend time with her family, including her mother who recently celebrated her 98th birthday. Lourice feels she has been blessed beyond measure and wants to make sure she is helping other seniors age with dignity in their homes.

Looking to the Future:
Delivering meals has become part of Lourice’s plan for her retirement years. She is proud that volunteering is in her DNA from a lifetime of learning the value of volunteerism from her mother, helping seniors in her church, and now promoting a legacy of service with her children and grandchildren. The blessing of giving to others and hearing their stories and wisdom has enriched her own life. Whenever Lourice has an opportunity, she encourages others to volunteer for VNA Meals on Wheels. She shares that VNA not only stands for “Visiting Nurse Association”, but to her it means “Volunteering for those who Need Assistance.”

VNA Friends on Wheels offers opportunities to serve for a few hours on weekends and evenings. Volunteers of all ages are welcome. Sign up as a group of any size to assemble healthy snack bags and senior kits, create handmade holiday greeting cards, provide lawn care assistance, or do some friendly visiting with widowed seniors. All activities provide the “more than a meal” touch many of our homebound senior clients appreciate. To find out more about VNA Friends on Wheels, contact Kim Peters at petersk@vnatexas.org or (214) 689-2210.

April is National Volunteer Month, a time for nonprofits to honor volunteers in our communities as well as an opportunity to encourage volunteerism. VNA Meals on Wheels has deployed community volunteers to deliver meals for our homebound seniors since 1973. Thank you for choosing VNA for your volunteer home. We appreciate your service!