Congratulations to Sharon Rankin of Southwest Airlines, our 2018 recipient of the Mary Bartholow Outstanding Volunteer Award! Fifteen years ago, Sharon and a few co-workers began delivering meals. Today, Southwest’s commitment has blossomed into six departments with year-round teams who deliver more than 4,500 meals per year. As if that wasn’t enough, nine years ago Sharon created an annual company-wide volunteer opportunity, the Southwest Blitz, to engage employees and deliver meals throughout Dallas County on one special day each year. Thanks to Sharon’s passion and influence, Southwest is one of our strongest corporate partners. VNA thanks Sharon Rankin for her servant’s heart and dedication to helping people age with dignity and independence at home!

The VNA Meals on Wheels office will be closed on Wednesday, July 4th, in observance of the Independence Day holiday. There will be no meal deliveries. Clients will consume one of the shelf stable meals delivered to them at the end of this month.

We recently announced the Volunteer Portal launching at the end of the summer to help VNA Meals on Wheels expand its reach and impact. The Volunteer Portal will provide visibility for upcoming routes, route and schedule management, and email route reminders and notifications of routes in need of a volunteer. This will also be a powerful tool for our group coordinators to communicate with and manage their group members’ routes and schedules.

Beginning next month, we are taking our show “on the road” to train volunteers on the new portal. We want to give you a sneak peek, as well as train you on its key features so you can fully utilize it when it is available.

Group Coordinators & Group Volunteers – In-person training will be offered at various locations throughout Dallas County and at the VNA Haggerty Center.

Independent Volunteers (non-group) – In-person training will be offered at the VNA Haggerty Center on Thursday afternoons and other select dates starting in mid-July.

Training will also be available online for busy volunteers or for those who prefer an online training experience.

The VNA Meals on Wheels team will be in touch soon to schedule your training.

Thanks so much for your dedication to VNA Meals on Wheels! With your support and use of the Volunteer Portal, VNA will feed more of our hungry, homebound senior citizens in Dallas County and to engage more volunteers.

Volunteer Spotlight Bill Hendryx Bill’s father was a Meals on Wheels recipient during the last few years of his life, inspiring Bill to begin volunteer to deliver meals himself. With VNA, the connection was immediate. He began delivering meals in the Bachman Lake area in the fall of 2016. He gains a great deal of enjoyment from the connection and love he feels for our clients. Many of his clients always want a hug or blow him a kiss when he leaves!

Bill was a career writer—newspapers, advertising, and most recently as a contributing editor at Reader’s Digest and Family Circle magazines.  Prior to selling their motorcycles, Bill and his wife travelled across most of the United States.

From delivering extra routes whenever we need him to providing words of support and encouragement to the VNA Meals on Wheels team, we all benefit from Bill’s kind and compassionate spirit.

Thank you for supporting VNA Meals on Wheels! We appreciate your partnership and always look forward to hearing from you – (214) 689-2639 or volunteer@vnatexas.org.