MOWs Volunteers with Texas-Size Hearts

Volunteer driver Robert Ramirez has enthusiastically tackled, on a regular basis, two of our most difficult Meals-on-Wheels routes, out in Midland county. When he can, Robert drives four times per week. With one client, a Spanish-speaking man in his 90's, Robert frequently went above and beyond the normal obligations of our volunteers. In an energetic quest to bring some improvement into the client's life, Robert and our caseworkers got him extra blankets, extra food, bed pads and via our Handyman program, repairs to his storm door. One day earlier this year Robert found the client on the floor, covered in vomit and unresponsive. He called 911, then our office. When the client died about a month later, his daughter told us that every aspect of her dad's life during the previous year had been chaotic and uncertain. The man needed nursing home care but could not find an affordable situation. He needed Hospice care, but could not get enrolled. The only bright spot he had was the daily lunch and visits from volunteers, especially Robert and the caring of nutrition caseworker Judy Guzman. This is just another example of the frequently heard Meals-on-Wheels slogan, "To the world you may be just one person, but to one person, you might be the world."

-Bill Adams
Community and Senior Services