Celebrating our Volunteers
This year, SOSMOW celebrated National Volunteer Week April 16th through 22nd with volunteers by acknowledging their service with daily in office celebrations. SOSMOW capped off the week with a celebration at its facilities on Saturday, April 22nd featuring a food truck, games, music, ice cream truck, a photo booth, live dancers and SOSMOW swag. This event was an opportunity for us to celebrate volunteer contributions, honor hard work, and express our heartfelt thanks.
Our volunteers are essential in carrying out our mission to promote nutritional health, decrease the possibility of premature institutionalization, and foster the independence and dignity of homebound seniors in Central Alameda County and the City of Oakland. In fact, 40% of our meal deliveries are carried out by our amazing volunteers. Volunteer drivers not only deliver nutritious meals, but they provide wellness checks and greet our clients with a friendly face. They often create relationships and offer companionship for our isolated older adult community. In fact, our drivers are sometimes the only people our clients see in a day or even week.
This was especially important during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many older adults were isolated. When the stay-at-home order was enacted in March 2020, we sent all our drivers over the age of 65 home, as they were at high risk of infection. We want to thank all the volunteers who stepped up to allow our older drivers to stay safe at home. During the past three years, we had over 500 volunteers who have helped us serve 1,575,046 meals to 5,352 seniors.
We truly send our heartfelt thanks to all our volunteers, your selfless dedication to the mission does not go unnoticed. We feel so grateful to work alongside all of you.
This month, we also spotlighted a few of our amazing volunteers on our social media. Check out our Instagram and Facebook for volunteer spotlights and celebration photos.
Do you want to get involved? Whether you are rolling solo or looking to volunteer as a team with friends, colleagues, or family members, we’ve got something for you! Although our greatest ongoing need is for Meal Delivery Drivers, we have other volunteering opportunities including volunteering in the kitchen, helping with administrative tasks, assembling bags of non-perishable grocery items for our clients, helping with events, or adopting a route.
If you would like to volunteer with us, fill out the application form on our website and our Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with you as soon as possible. This form is available on our website under the “volunteer” page or with this link https://lnkd.in/gbECNHeP. Help make a difference in your community today.
