DALLAS – Volunteers are doing their best to help some of North Texas’ most vulnerable people prepare for the winter storm.
Dallas County Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels in Dallas County is a service provided by the Visiting Nurses Association.
Currently, the organization serves about 5,200 homebound seniors and disabled adults throughout the county each weekday. That’s in addition to those in hospice care.
It takes about 300 volunteers and staff members to deliver those meals each day.
The VNA didn’t want to risk having those folks on the roads on Thursday and Friday, so they prepared additional meals and delivered those with heaters as needed on Wednesday.
“What we’re doing today is preparing that hot meal they were supposed to receive. In addition, every client is going to get a breakfast bag. In the fall, we try to prepare for the holiday season and for inclement weather so all of our clients receive a five-pack of our meals that are shelf stable so they will have those to eat on Thursday and Friday,” said Jennifer Austin, the VNA’s managing director of Development and Communications.
While they won’t be delivering food, Dallas County’s volunteers will still call their clients to check on them.
Staff will also be working remotely so if there are any emergencies, those can be addressed promptly.
What People Are Saying: Andrew Astmann is one of the volunteers in Dallas County.
“You develop a rapport with a handful of your clients,” he said. “It’s a good service that a lot of people need.”
People like Maria Gonzalez and Richard Henry said they’re grateful for the food and human interaction.
“When you’re old, people tend to forget about you. So knowing that there’s people out there who truly care who volunteer their time, it’s important.”
Dig Deeper: It’s a big operation and the VNA is always in need of volunteers to help out on the routes.
If you’d like to help or learn more, visit volunteer.vnatexas.org.