In honor of Black History Month and in support of the 3rd annual Cocktails in the Kitchen event and the 12th annul Celebrity Chef luncheon and dinner, we’re featuring our esteemed culinary guests, Toni Tipton-Martin and Chef Chris Williams, on the Aging Well with VNA Podcast.

Tipton-Martin, the revered culinary journalist and James Beard award winner and Williams, chef/restauranteur turned anti-hunger advocate, bring awareness to the plight of Black American food traditions and how they separately and collectively keep the history alive through storytelling and service to others. 

Learn more about The Toni Tipton-Martin Foundation

Learn more about Lucille’s 1913 Conscious Community Collective

Sponsorships/tickets for Cocktails in the Kitchen and the Celebrity Chef Dinner and Luncheon are on sale now!  A virtual option has been added to the Celebrity Chef Dinner featuring Toni-Tipton Martin. Tickets to the foodie event of the year are a great gift for your sweetie or friend!

For more information, contact Jennifer Austin at 214-384-9515 or jennifer.austin@vnatexas.org

If anyone can appreciate the logistics involved in coordinating the cooking, packing, and delivery of 4,500 Meals on Wheels meals each day, it’s the Network Planning Team at Southwest Airlines.  Southwest Employees and MOW Volunteers Janet Redding, Aitor Lazo, Stan Dombrowski are a part of the department responsible for creating every flight schedule for the airline. This group also leads their VNA Meals on Wheels volunteer team, coordinating three to four volunteers each month to drive their regular route.

The first Friday of each month, the Southwest Airline volunteers pick up and deliver a route or two in West Dallas.  Stan is always behind the wheel, while Janet mans the app and helps Aitor deliver the meals.  

“I look forward to seeing our clients every month. They light up when they see you—always so appreciative.  On colder days, the clients are always asking if we are warm enough,” says Janet.

Aitor says volunteering is a selfish act. “It makes me feel good, like a better human being. It helps me see past my personal perception and having boots on the ground opens your eyes to so much more that’s happening in our city.”

The team also uses the time as a chance to get to know one another, especially new hires in their department. The time spent volunteering allows for discussions around life instead of work. Prior to the pandemic, team lunches served this role. Now, it’s providing lunch for others that helps build that camaraderie.

“Volunteering is so ingrained at Southwest Airlines,” says Janet. “It grounds you and helps keep you in the moment. It’s an added bonus that my volunteer time earns this great organization e-passes through Tickets For Time Program. When Employees volunteer for 501c3 nonprofits or schools and record their volunteerism, organizations are eligible for free round trip travel through our Tickets-for-Time program. For every 40 hours volunteered, the organization receives one ticket, up to six in a calendar year.”

Does your team at work need a connection re-boot?  Sign up for a team route today—with options to deliver weekly, monthly, or quarterly.  Learn more at volunteer.vnatexas.org or email Tracie at demeryt@vnatexas.org.

I am excited to share with our VNA community about a research study we are participating in—Standing Up for Novel Research in Supporting the Evolution of Cancer Care (SUN-RiSE).  The purpose of the study is to better understand and improve cancer patients’ long-term survival prospects and quality of life.

This study is led by Matteo Ligorio, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center, in partnership with Kelley Newcomer, M.D., Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Department of Internal Medicine, and Medical Director of the Visiting Nurse Association of Texas, and Nicola Aceto, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Oncology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, along with other UT Southwestern and ETH Zurich medical doctors, molecular biologists, and computational scientists. The research team is working closely with patients and caregivers of two of the largest nonprofit, end-of-life care organizations in Dallas the Visiting Nurse Association Hospice and Faith Presbyterian Hospice.

VNA was eager to participate in this important study because ultimately, studying what happens in end-stage cancer patients can lead to better treatment, management of symptoms and improved quality of life. VNA has served the community for more than 88 years, and this is one more way in which we will help support efforts to better the lives of those in our community. This partnership will lead to better patient care, which is at the heart of our mission.  VNA is currently enrolling patients into the research study. You can learn more here.

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1420 W. Mockingbird Ln., Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75247

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

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