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Announcing "Summer Servings" - A program for Summer Volunteers
Meals on Wheels is excited to announce a new program called “Summer Servings,” an opportunity for individuals to serve the community during the summer months of June, July & August. Parents with young children, high school and college students and teachers are especially encouraged to participate in this summertime program.
Parents will have the opportunity to teach their children about volunteerism and the community, through this a great family activity. Children who participate will also receive a fun activity book that teaches them about Meals on Wheels, volunteering and nutrition. The high school and college student can earn school service credit for their participation during the summer months. There will also be an end of summer luncheon during which the Summer Servings volunteers will be recognized for their efforts and receive awards.
Volunteering as little as one day a week for just a couple of hours can provide a meaningful service without being overly demanding of one’s time and effort, and that’s all that is required. We will schedule volunteers based on their preferences and availability.
What better way to have a meaningful summer than to offer a little summer service benefiting those in need, and what better way to be of service than to bring someone a vital serving of food!
If you are interested in volunteering with “Summer Servings” contact Meals on Wheels office at 627-4103.
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CRITICAL NEED FOR VOLUNTEERS RIGHT NOW
Some people might go hungry simply because there is no one to take them a meal. The Meals on Wheels program has an urgent need for additional volunteers to help deliver meals and friendly visits to homebound frail elderly and disabled people in the Tulsa metropolitan area. There is a need for drivers (meal deliverers), food packers, and site coordinators. "This is an opportunity to do something very simple and very easy, but to also make a difference in someone’s life and well-being,” said Dan Rabovsky, Executive Director. According to Rabovsky, “We have had some long-time volunteers retire and we have to find replacements for them. The most serious need is for site coordinators. There are openings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They are the volunteers that oversee the delivery process for that day. It is not really very demanding and it requires only about a 3 hour commitment, usually between 9 am and noon,” said Rabovsky. "Others needs include drivers and packers as well as substitutes, and most of them can perform those tasks in just about an hour." “With the increased cost of gas some people might wonder about how much gasoline they’ll be using if they deliver meals, but even a big gas guzzler can do most of our routes on less than a gallon of gas. The routes are pretty compact and there is not a lot of mileage involved. For those volunteers where this may be an issue, we now have a partnership with RSVP and through a grant they received they can provide some mileage reimbursement, so we hope potential volunteers will not see this as a barrier.” “People desperately need our services. We want to make sure everyone who needs meals has a chance to get them” Rabovsky said.
Rabovsky
explained that in addition to individuals, businesses can step forward to
help provide Allcare Hospice is an example of a business that recently became a volunteer partner. When they heard about the critical need in the Southwest Tulsa area they stepped forward to adopt a route and their employees are now using their lunch hour to deliver each Monday, Wednesday and Friday! In the picture above, Allcare Hospice employees Becky Sparks and Jamie Miller load their car for delivery, while MOW volunteer Marie Simmons looks on. The employees volunteer on a 2-person team, on a rotating schedule. According to Steve Money of Allcare Hospice, "We are getting a lot out of it, too. It creates excitement among the employees, and it helps develop a sense of company spirit and team work." Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa is the oldest and one of the largest home-delivered meal programs in Oklahoma. Presently the program delivers more than 1,000 on a typical day of service. Meals on Wheels utilizes about 2,500 volunteers. The service is funded entirely by local charitable contributions, and receives no government or United Way funding. “The volunteer task is simple and requires little time. The rewards are great, as each volunteer makes a very big contribution to the lives of the recipients. Volunteers deliver a hot meal - and get a warm feeling!” Rabovsky added. For more information, please call Meals on Wheels at 627-4103.
Most volunteer Service opportunities are Monday through Friday. Regular Volunteer opportunities include the following: Food packers/kitchen helpers: (M-F) these volunteers perform their work at one of the 17 church kitchen sites used to package and ready the meals for delivery. The food is dished into 3-compartment aluminum trays and other containers and placed in thermal chests, ready for delivery. Time involved: 1½ - 2 hours, usually between 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Volunteers usually work one day a week, or less. We also utilize a substitute, or "reserve list" of volunteers who may be called to replace a volunteer who can't work that day. Volunteers are placed at a site nearest their home, or in the same group in which their congregation participates if preferred. Meal Deliverers/drivers: (M-F) these volunteers deliver the meals along pre-arranged routes of 12-15 recipients. After arriving at the kitchen site they pick up the food, packed in thermal containers (ice chests), and route books containing information about the people to whom they will deliver. Using their own vehicle, the volunteers then make their deliveries. There is no reimbursement for expenses, but volunteers may claim mileage as a tax-deductible contribution as allowed by the IRS. Upon completion of delivery the volunteers return the ice chests and route books to the site. Time involved is between 1 - 1½ hours, usually between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. We like for volunteers to work in partners so that one can drive and the other navigate, but it is not always required. Volunteers usually work one day a week, or less. We also utilize a substitute, or "reserve list" for those willing to fill in when the regular volunteer can't make it. Volunteers are usually placed in the unit nearest their home, or an area they prefer. Coordinators:(M-F) these volunteers work at one of the 17 church kitchen sites and coordinate the meal delivery system. They supervise and coordinate the activities of the volunteers from that site, take referral information from the office, and pass on necessary information to the office, the recipient's family, etc. by telephone from the site. They keep the necessary records of the day's delivery, including the route books, and record any contributions which come in that day. They place the order for the next day's service. Time involved about 4 hours, usually between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Volunteers usually work one day a week or less - they choose the day. Office volunteers: (M-F) these volunteers work at the Meals on Wheels office, located at 12620 E. 31st Street (between Garnett & 129th E. Ave). They will answer the telephone, take referral information, answer public inquiries, pass along necessary information to coordinators, etc. Time involved is negotiated based upon convenience, with a minimum of two hours recommended. Office hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Bulk Mail Volunteers: We use volunteers to help us with our bulk mailings -- stuffing envelopes, labeling, etc. -- numerous times throughout the year. You can put your name on the list, and we'll call you when we are doing a mailing. Then come if you can help! Supply Drivers: (M-F) these volunteers deliver the packaging supplies to the various Meals on Wheels church kitchen sites, using the Meals on Wheels Ford Areostar van. The supplies include cases of aluminum trays, Styrofoam food cups and lids, and sandwich bags, etc. These are used at the sites to package the individual meals. The cases are not heavy to lift, though dollies are also provided. A delivery schedule has been developed so that deliveries are made to only two or three sites each Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday, from 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. The Loyal Order of the St. Bernards: (M-F) On snow-days, when we must cancel our regular program for delivering meals, a special group of volunteers comes to the rescue. Many of our recipients generally will have something in their homes they can fix, or they have family members to care for them, but there are a good number of our recipients who depend solely on our food deliveries for their daily nutrition. For these individuals, if we cannot get a meal to them, they probably won’t eat that day. Special volunteers, who won’t let the challenge of the snow stop them, are snow-day "rescuers" by helping us deliver an emergency meal to these homebound persons. If you sign up, we will call you when we need you, and if you are available we will provide you with the emergency meals along with a list of the people and addresses to whom you will deliver. We will attempt to put people on your "route" who are in the same general vicinity, and limit the number of stops according to your available time. It will generally take no more than a hour or two to make the delivery of meals. Special Event Volunteers: We use volunteers to staff the committees that plan and carry out our special events, such as the annual Golf Tournament, the fall fund raiser, Tulsa's Greatest Garage Sale, and other events and benefits as they arise. These are usually short-term volunteer projects and are a lot of fun! The jobs vary with the event, and can be anything from monitoring a contest at the Golf Tournament to helping serve refreshments to event participants. Meals for Paw Starz Volunteers (providing delivery of pet food to our recipients)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON VOLUNTEERING
CALL 627-4103 Food Handler Classes for 2008 All Food Handler volunteers (kitchen packers) should check their cards and make sure that they get a new card sometime before the expiration date listed. Cards need to be renewed every year now. All classes will be held at the Meals on Wheels facility, in the Conference Room (12620 E. 31st Street) except as otherwise noted. Please pre-register for the sessions. The Health Department requires us to guarantee at least 12 participants per class, so we must ask for advance registrations (call 627-4103) so that we can insure we will have the minimum number present for the session.
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Meals
on Wheels of Metro Tulsa
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12620
E. 31st Street Tulsa, Oklahoma 74146-2307
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ph: 918-627-4103
fax: 918-663-8914
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email: mowtulsa@atlasok.com
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volunteers. “We have many businesses that have adopted a
route. Two of their employees, on a rotating basis, are allowed time out
of the office to deliver meals on a regular basis, usually from one day a week to
one day a month. We have a number of businesses currently involved. It’s
a great way for a company to be active in the community and their
neighborhood. We would like additional business volunteers to help us
deal with this present crisis. We can try to match them with a unit
closest to their office and give them a smaller route which can be done in
less time, as well as place them on a day that is best for them,” Rabovsky
said.
(Picture by Tulsa World)