Q: Can you describe
your volunteer effort(s)? What group do you serve and what is their mission?
NM: I volunteer
for Meals on Wheels here in Richmond, an organization that delivers meals to
elderly & shut-in individuals who cannot get out to buy and prepare their
own meals. MoW partners with the local food bank, and divides the service area
into small segments, where volunteers deliver foods to multiple clients in a
given area. Clients pay what they are able to, on sliding scale and some may
not be able to pay at all, but it is an important mission. MoW is an amazing
organization; they have a really large network of volunteers here in Richmond
and they are incredibly well-organized. When volunteers pick up the prepared
foods, they are given detailed directions to the client locations, and MoW
keeps track of all dietary restrictions clients may have.
I began organizing a Reynolds volunteer group in 2007, and
we now have about 20 people from Advancement, the Office of Institutional
Effectiveness, and Marketing & Communications who take turns volunteering
in pairs. We make deliveries the 3rd Friday of each month. We are
assigned to an area close to the college.
Volunteers pick up the prepared meals and make deliveries to around 16
clients, which takes about 2 ½ hours.
Q: How or why did you
get involved in volunteering?
NM: I started
volunteering with a friend about 12 years ago, who got involved with Meals on
Wheels through her workplace. When her work group started falling apart, I
thought I’d try to get a group from Reynolds together. Also, at the time I stated I had elderly
parents who lived in another state, whom I couldn’t visit as often as I would
have liked. So this gave me the opportunity to feel like I was helping
someone’s else’s parents out, and giving back.
It has been well worth it; you wouldn’t believe how
gratifying it is. Some of the people we see are just so happy to see someone,
and so grateful. The food is not as important as the human contact—they need
the nutrition, but more than that, they need the human contact. And this
organization provides both.
Q: Do your volunteer
efforts impact your job at Reynolds?
NM: I use my
volunteer leave time, which is 16 hours per year, and it has never run out.
This year I will probably use 8-10 hours. I got a great response when I sent
out the email to see if people would be interested.
Q: Do you have any
tips for others who want to get involved?
NM: Just take the
plunge! The volunteer leave time is there to use, and [college] leadership has
been very supportive. It helps to have a group, so that no one person feels
like they are taking on more than they can handle. And once a month feels more
manageable. You do need someone to coordinate the effort, who can keep people
organized and on schedule with the volunteer commitments, otherwise the whole
thing can fall apart. And I try to keep a log and send everyone who volunteers
in the MoW group a LEAP award, so that they feel appreciated.
