It’s Back!

VNA’s most delicious fundraising event is here. Purchase your pumpkin and pecan pies and pumpkin bread TODAY. https://www.powerofpie.org/

With 100% of the proceeds benefitting VNA, this grassroots event has raised more than $500,000 since its inception. Power of Pie was born of the idea that pie is a truly special thing—it stands out amongst practically all other foods as a symbol of comfort, home, and family, especially during Thanksgiving. Your purchase of pies and bread feeds more than folks at your Thanksgiving table. It provides food, friendship, and comforting care to homebound and seriously ill neighbors.

Thank you to our generous sponsors: Central Market, CTI Foods, Ventura Foods, Empire Baking Co., Haute Sweets Patisserie, TRIO Foodservice, and Uncle Willie’s Pies.

Order your pies and bread by 11/11/22. Pick up on 11/22 or 11/23 at 6 convenient pickup locations.

The Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (CPAAA) of Cedar Hill is a nonprofit organization devoted to the continuous support of the Cedar Hill Police Department.  Their mission is to serve as ambassadors for the Cedar Hill Police Department and community.  Their goal is to promote public safety and law enforcement by supporting the police department and community it serves by deeds and/or monetary support.  CPAAA works closely with the PACT (Police and Community Team) by providing services which include support at local events and collaborating with the community to create relationships with the people of Cedar Hill to create awareness and positive thinking about the city, community, and police department.

One of the services many of their members participate in is the VNA Meals on Wheels program led by member Ken Tettleton who has been volunteering with Meals on Wheels since 2016.  The group delivers route 1903C (a small route on the outskirts of Dallas County).  The concern and compassion for others motivated Ken to continue with the program and encourage others to get involved.  The group currently has 8 members who rotate and deliver meals five days a week to 25 households.  Not only do they take time to deliver the nourishing meals to homebound seniors, but they also devote precious time to visit with and comfort those who may not be able to get out and socialize with others.  A few team members shared the following comments about their experience delivering meals:

• Joyce: “My purpose for being a Meals on Wheels volunteer is that it allows me to use my wheels to deliver hot and nutritional meals to others.”
• Donna: (one of the past presidents of CPAAA) “Delivering Meals on Wheels allows me to help people who are unable to get out and get meals for themselves.”
• Bill: “I volunteer for Meals on Wheels to help those less fortunate.”

This group of loving and compassionate people are willing to help those in need.  As the organization continues to grow, they hope that volunteerism will increase as well.

The group has also committed to participating in the Adopt-A-Senior project by proving holiday bags for 50 homebound seniors.

The Cedar Hill chapter challenges ALL CPAAA organizations to join them in this effort to help the VNA Meals on Wheels organization by bringing help and happiness to homebound seniors in Dallas County. 

To plan your Day of Caring event, please contact our Volunteer Engagement Supervisor, Tracie Demery at demeryt@vnatexas.org today!

If you have availability, please consider signing up today for a recurring route or a one-time delivery depending on your availability in the volunteer portal: https://volunteer.vnatexas.org/landing.

Want more information on volunteering and all services offered by VNA?  Contact a member of our volunteer team to come out to speak to your group.

Feel free to reach out to one of our volunteer coordinators if you have questions, need assistance, or to schedule a volunteer interest session:

Karri Hopper: hopperk@vnatexas.org; (214) 689-2209

Jennifer De La Rosa: jennifer.delarosa@vnatexas.org; (214) 689-2464

You may also call the Volunteer Line at 214-689-3222 for assistance.

It’s that time of year again for VNA Meals on Wheels to start preparing for our upcoming HOLIDAY DELIVERIES!

On Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, our volunteers and paid drivers deliver hot meals to 4,500 clients throughout Dallas County. This year, our holiday delivery dates will be:

Thanksgiving Day Delivery — Thursday, November 24, 2022 (Deadline to sign up: Friday, 11/18/22)
Christmas Delivery — Friday, December 23, 2022 (Deadline to sign up: Friday, 12/16/22)

For Thanksgiving and Christmas, pick up times will be staggered so you can choose to pick up between 8:30 AM-9:30 AM or 9:30 AM-10:30 AM in the Community Partners of Dallas parking lot located at 7950 Elmbrook Drive, Dallas, TX 75247.

Any route that is not picked up by 10:45AM will be reassigned to another volunteer.

You will need to sign up for each individual delivery day using the following links:

Thanksgiving 11/24/22 (8:30-9:30):
https://volunteer.vnatexas.org/SpecialEventInvite?specialEventId=a043s00000Yw2jAAAR&accountId=0016A00000dbMmPQAU

Thanksgiving 11/24/22 (9:30-10:30):
https://volunteer.vnatexas.org/SpecialEventInvite?specialEventId=a043s00000Yw2jFAAR&accountId=0016A00000dbMmPQAU

Christmas 12/23/22 (8:30-9:30):
https://volunteer.vnatexas.org/SpecialEventInvite?specialEventId=a043s00000Yw2jBAAR&accountId=0016A00000dbMmPQAU

Christmas 12/23/22 (9:30-10:30):
https://volunteer.vnatexas.org/SpecialEventInvite?specialEventId=a043s00000Yw2jKAAR&accountId=0016A00000dbMmPQAU

Volunteer elves have been hard at work all summer preparing for our Holiday Adopt-A-Senior event! Each of our 4,500 Meals on Wheels clients will receive a holiday gift filled with wrapped toiletry items including shampoo, toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, a washcloth, and socks. The gifts will be delivered on our Christmas delivery along with their hot holiday meal.  

While we need donations of all the items, we are in particular need of full-size bottles of shampoo. Can you help? We need 3,000 bottles of shampoo to fill our gift bags. If you would like to order these items on Amazon, visit our Amazon Wishlist.  

For more information on how you can Adopt A Senior, please click here to download an informational flyer.

The 2022-2023 VNA Meals on Wheels Teen Board officially kicked off on Sunday, October 9th!  This year’s Teen Board includes 80 teens from 18 Dallas County schools.  We are looking forward to a great year of service!

If you see something, please say something.  If you are out delivering and come across a client you think could use additional help, you can report it to us in the mobile app and we’ll be happy to follow up with the client.

On the Client Details Screen within the Mobile App, you’ll want to click on “Leave Feedback About Client”.

You can go to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store and download the newest version of the app. 

Karri Hopper, Tracie Demery, Khanh Dang (summer intern), Jennifer De La Rosa, Miriah Leddy

We are always happy to hear from you and are here to help make your volunteer experience better! Thank you so much for choosing VNA Meals on Wheels!

Tracie Demery, Volunteer Engagement Supervisor

demeryt@vnatexas.org, (214) 689-2653      

Karri Hopper, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator

hopperk@vnatexas.org, (214) 689-2209

Miriah Leddy, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator

miriah.leddy@vnatexas.org, (214) 689-2233

Jennifer De La Rosa, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator

jennifer.delarosa@vnatexas.org, (214) 689-2464

April Burns, System Support Analyst

burnsa@vnatexas.org, (214) 689-3220    

© VNATexas.org
1420 W. Mockingbird Ln., Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75247

VNA offers Meals on Wheels in Dallas County, VNA Hospice Care serving Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Rockwall, Tarrant, Van Zandt, Wise Counties and parts of Johnson and Navarro Counties and VNA Care Choices serving Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Henderson, Kaufman, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Van Zandt Counties.

Unsubscribe from this newsletter instantly.