Holidays: What to Do?

 We could spend a lot of time talking about crass consumerism and the lack of Christmas spirit that seems manifest every Black Friday.  It does give one pause but we can hope, although we know merchants must do well during this time of year, that serious thought will be given to the holidays, be they Jewish, Christian, or African-American.  If we dwell too much on the negative aspect, then the inner Scrooge in many of us will surface.  It’s much better to reflect on the hero of A Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim Crachit and his, “God bless us everyone!”

Following his hope is far from easy, given the state of angst here and abroad.  It will take a positive effort and here is a bit of more modern advice:  Think about others rather than ourselves.

There are many ways to do that and we are inundated with solicitations from charitable organizations each December.  They, like the merchants, depend on generosity at year’s end to help with their good works.  Pick one . . . or better yet . . . several and write checks.  That is the easiest way to do it, but there is another that will give satisfaction of a different sort:  Volunteer to do some work for them.  Serve meals at RAM House or the Rescue mission, the Salvation Army, Goodwill and countless other agencies have needs that volunteers could meet; not just at the holiday season, but year round.

One that we have found especially rewarding over the years is Meals on Wheels.  It’s operated by The League of Older Americans, which has 25 offices around the state.  They conduct many services, but MOW is the largest program in Roanoke’s LOA.

There are between 650 and 700 individuals in our area that receive a hot meal five days a week. These are people who are handicapped to the point they cannot prepare their own food and have no support system to help them.  In The Roanoke Valley there are 38 distribution points, each with 5-7 routes.  Each route consists of eight-ten clients. The food is prepared and packaged by Canteen Vending Service and delivered to the distribution points where volunteers, about 350 of them, pick up the food and make the deliveries, which usually takes about an hour.  There are volunteers who have been doing this for 30 years; some do it weekly, some at lesser intervals.

There is a charge of $4/per meal but that doesn’t cover the cost and operating expense which amounts to around $700,000 a year.  Additional funding comes from The United Way, from grants, from Federal and State agencies, and from private contributions.

MOW is a no-frills operation but it would go nowhere without volunteer drivers.  It might sound a little daunting to drive around an unfamiliar neighborhood, looking for streets, house numbers, and unpleasant dogs in the yards.  Not to worry.  MOW directions have GPS beat hands down.  Right down to the plantings in the yard and the color of the shutters, you can identify the first house on the route and the directions to the next location are equally specific.  Your direction sheet even tells which dogs are to be petted and which ones will be enclosed.  Dog food also gets delivered, even to the yappy ones.

If you are a beginning driver, one of the seasoned volunteers will take you on a trial run and show you how rewarding and easy it is.  Over the years, the clients change, but drivers become friends with people who, through physical disability, have to depend on others to keep them fed.

The staff at the distribution points and the LOA office is unfailingly helpful. The two greatest needs are more funding and more volunteers.  Michele Daley, who is the supervisor for MOW, loves her job and would love to hear from you.  Give her a call at 345-0451.

There are numerous other agencies that need help and are equally deserving. Meals on Wheels just happens to be one which we currently enjoy serving.  If you take our advice and volunteer, you will be living out Tiny Tim’s wish and there will be less “Bah! Humbug!!” in your holidays, of that we are certain.

Hayden Hollingsworth