The Wrights Get it Right

VOLUNTEERING The Wrights Get it Right

As the governor laid out quarantine plans for Ohio, SourcePoint’s older volunteers faced a tough choice. Given that the average age of a Meals on Wheels volunteer is 65, hesitation to continue public service was understandable. Despite the known risks the coronavirus presents to seniors, choosing to stop delivering meals during a time of heightened need was a painful decision for dedicated volunteers. Many senior volunteers who opted to step aside during the pandemic cited the same factor: “My kids were worried about me volunteering during quarantine.” John Wright and his wife, Janet, have been active volunteers in SourcePoint’s Meals on Wheels program for 17 years. In addition to delivering meals twice a week, John also volunteered in SourcePoint’s kitchen two days each week packing food into meal trays. A retired firefighter, carpenter, and all-around handyman, 88-year-old John does not find sitting still to his liking. In early 2020, John and Janet gave up their home on one acre and moved to a senior apartment complex. They looked forward to a new social life, one that included euchre nights, sharing puzzles in the community room, and exercising in the on-site gym. Within weeks of their move, those opportunities fizzled. John found himself without a yard to tend or a workshop to putter in, and no avenue to meet his new neighbors. SourcePoint’s Cafe 55, where the couple regularly lunched with friends, shut down per state orders. The only bright spot for John was the Meals on Wheels program, which remained open and in desperate need of volunteers. John figured he would continue his four-day-aweek schedule of public service—until three of the Wrights’ four children voiced their concerns and pleaded with John to pause his volunteer service during the pandemic. Of all the losses caused by the quarantine, the inability to continue serving John's meal clients was the worst. Seventeen years is a long time delivering meals and the seniors on John’s route are people he counts as friends. He worried for them during the pandemic and was devastated at his inability to continue his twice-weekly visits. After John suffered a fall, the Wright kids suggested that their dad never drive a meal route again, even post-pandemic. John and Janet’s daughter, Jane Wright, hated seeing her father’s grief over losing his long-held meal route. Jane contacted SourcePoint, offering to take over her dad’s Thursday route, and stepped right into his place. Despite adding volunteering to an already full schedule, Jane delighted in her secret mission. A former bus driver, Jane works as a full-time caregiver from 2 p.m. to 9 a.m. At the end of her Thursday morning shift, she drives to SourcePoint to pick up the meals that she delivers around Powell. How does she like delivering meals? “It’s good,” Jane said. “But I’d rather be doing it with my dad.” When the statewide quarantine ended, Jane surprised her father with the gift of having covered his route in his absence. Even better, going forward she would be his delivery partner; Jane would do the driving and John would do the delivering. When John realized he would be seeing the meal clients he had served for 17 years, he broke down and cried. “I’ve missed everyone,” he said. What does he think about his daughter’s gracious act? John wiped tears from his eyes and hugged his daughter. “Only Jane would think to do such a thing.” An outpouring of community support has kept Meals on Wheels afloat in the face of an unprecedented, albeit temporary, loss of volunteers. Working adults, like Jane, who stepped in to fill meal routes doubled their contribution. They kept the mission of senior food security alive while supporting older volunteers who faced multiple lifestyle losses during the pandemic. Besides the tremendous contributions retirees provide to their communities, public service is part of a meaningful retirement for seniors who know that by enriching the lives of others, they enrich their own. For more information on volunteering with SourcePoint, contact Jill Smith, volunteer recruiter, at 740-203-2368 or jill.smith@MySourcePoint.org.