THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409090266
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
``This really is sharing and caring,'' Natalie Jackson said. ``We had a ball and it's because you meet people.''
Jackson, a Portsmouth native who lives in Virginia Beach, was one of the people who delivered Meals on Wheels as part of the United Way Day of Caring. Participants in the program were all over Hampton Roads Thursday, getting acquainted with the organizations that receive United Way money.
Jackson's reaction to the elderly and ailing residents who receive Meals on Wheels service was typical of about 15 people who came from offices across the region.
Jackson traveled with Deborah Carter of Portsmouth. Both women work at the Military Sealift Command in Norfolk.
``I did this last year and I insisted that I would do it again this year,'' Carter said. ``I like meeting the older people.''
She added, ``Just talking to them makes me feel good.''
The volunteers for the ``Day of Caring'' delivered hot meals for lunch and brown bags for supper to about 70 or 80 elderly Portsmouthians who depend on Meals on Wheels for sustenance.
Tommy Lanthorn and Dawn Regula, Virginia Power employees, were the first volunteer team to return to Sentara Nursing Home, where the program is headquartered.
``I've pulled weeds and painted windows and done just about everything for Day of Caring,'' Regula said. ``I asked for this because it was different. It was a chance to deal directly with people.''
Regula said she was fascinated by the crafts made by one of the clients on her stops. Her partner, Lanthorn, was more enthralled by the doll collection of another woman on their route.
``That was really something, all those dolls,'' he said.
Joshua Savage and Linda Smith, both residents of Portsmouth and both employees of Sentara Norfolk General, also felt really good about their adventure with Meals on Wheels.
``It's real rewarding because of the people,'' Savage said.
Smith added that one elderly man with diabetes really appealed to her.
``The nurse in me wants to do something to help him,'' she said.
For Bertha Hodges of Norfolk, an employee of Telecable Corp., taking meals to elderly people was a new experience and she will remember it because of the way their ``faces lit up when we arrived.''
Sharon Washington and Sandra Cooper of the Portsmouth Community Services Board staff also picked Meals on Wheels for their volunteer day.
``It's wonderful to put smiles on elderly faces,'' Washington said.
Washington and Cooper, as well as Lanthorn and Regula, immediately started talking about volunteering on a regular basis with the organization which delivered 1,600 meals last year.
All the workers are volunteers. One part-time employee coordinates the project for a volunteer board.
``A lot of us who take the meals are senior citizens and we're going to give out one of these days,'' board chairman Grant Creekmore told me. ``We need to get some younger people involved.''
Unfortunately, most younger people work. Getting them involved means getting their employers involved.
Meals on Wheels asks for commitments of one day a month. The people from a church or a company or just individuals then show up on the same day of every month.
The Virginia Power employees said they would like to make a commitment if their company would give them the longer lunchtime on that one day.
``We have a large volunteer program, so I feel like the company will seriously consider it,'' Lanthorn said.
The Community Services employees also would like to volunteer but without the sanction of the city, that is impossible.
Creekmore said the board has asked the city for help but, ``so far, nothing has happened.''
The city ought to be leading the way in this volunteer effort to see that 80 or 90 elderly citizens get proper nutrition at a reasonable cost. By sponsoring several days a month, the city could involve almost every department in the city to make up the groups of 18 volunteers needed each day.
Judging from the positive reaction of the one-time volunteers Thursday, both private companies and public agencies would gain by giving their employees time to give a little of themselves to older citizens. by CNB