Here's our latest client profile/call for volunteers in the Renton area:

You never know who you'll meet on a ride!

We say it time and time again: Volunteer Transportation car rides are the perfect setting to discover unexpected ties to people with whom you wouldn’t have otherwise crossed paths.  We received this account from volunteer driver Audrey R. after she took client James S. to an appointment earlier this week:

“My rider today went to high school with my college roommate and dear friend in a tiny town in Northern Wisconsin.  Interesting how conversations get around to connections!”

Who knew that Northern Wisconsin networks would be extended to the Pacific Northwest through volunteer driving?!

Still Swinging

Lavonne never likes to sit for too long.

92-year-old Lavonne Raven has never been a homebody.  “I’m just not a person who sits around the house!” she says.   Her younger days were busy with raising a family and running a small business, and she discovered a strong passion for golf in her senior years.   The sport was a huge part of her life.  When she wasn’t on a golf course or traveling with her golfing group, she could be found playing cards, running errands, shopping or attending events in her local community.   She was always on the run.

That all changed when Lavonne was in a car accident in 2013.   Her car was totaled, and her family decided to take away her keys for good.  She no longer had the freedom to come and go as she pleased.

Lavonne is a perpetually positive person, but it was hard to see the bright side of this life development.  “I lost my independence,” she explains.

As she adjusted to her new home-based routine, Lavonne discovered the Volunteer Transportation program.   She felt very relieved to learn that the program’s volunteer drivers could take her to see her oncologist, urologist, chiropractor, physical therapist, audiologist and eye doctor.  She was in good health for her age, but her calendar was full of recurring appointments.  She wouldn’t have to miss out on her important medical care.

Over two years later, Lavonne continues to use Volunteer Transportation several times per month.  She is very interesting in her own right, but she reports that one of her favorite things is learning about her volunteer drivers.    “I love hearing about their lives!  It’s like a day out for me.   The drivers are all marvelous, and they all have such neat experiences to share,” she exclaims.  She lists one volunteer driver who spends a lot of time on his large boat, another who is an avid cyclist and another who has gone on extensive motorcycling trips.  She is able to live vicariously through their adventures.

Lavonne’s life may have changed since the loss of her car, but Volunteer Transportation allows her to hold on to her treasured independence.  She says, “I truly do not know what I’d do without the program.  It is just so wonderful.”

Volunteer Transportation helps Lavonne remain active, and she happily reports that she is still able to golf a full 18 holes.  She isn’t able to hit the ball quite as far as she used to, and she doesn’t make it to the golf course as frequently as she’d like, but she still has an accurate swing.

Volunteer drivers ensure that Lavonne can maintain the good health and high spirits she needs to keep both on the go and on the green.

Pat, a volunteer driver for over three years, took 93-year-old Beulah to a standard medical appointment earlier this month.  After the appointment ended, Pat realized that Beulah did not seem like her normal self; something was just not quite right.  She trusted her intuition and took Beulah to the emergency room.  Pat kindly spent the day with her as they discovered the root of her illness and treated her for a serious health condition.  Beulah writes, “My eternal gratitude for Pat’s consideration.  She saved my life that day.”

Thus, our volunteer drivers are lifesavers.  Literally.

#SeattleAntifreeze, Part 31: Decisions

#SeattleAntifreeze, Part 30: New Day

#SeattleAntifreeze, Part 27: The Frail Mask

Mr. Fedorowicz was born in Ukraine, but he didn't spend his childhood there. He didn't have much of a childhood at all. He was a child of war.

#SeattleAntifreeze, Part 13: The Perfect Point of View

How does Eileen stay so healthy and energetic? "I never got married," she tells me with a glimmer in her eye and a smile, "but I sure have dated a lot!"

#SeattleAntifreeze, Part 12: My Spoonful of Sugar

Nothing turns me into a witch out of hell like getting stuck in traffic. Except when my car *dies* in traffic.

We are excited to read more inspiring stories as Monique continues on her humanizing quest.  More about Monique and her #SeattleAntifreeze movement can be found on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoniqueKIRO7.

The Transportation Program’s Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon took place on December 15th, and (as always) it was a fun and inspiring event for all those in attendance. The gathering was the perfect way to thank volunteers for everything they’ve done in the past year and recognize drivers celebrating milestone anniversaries with the program. With good food, motivating words of wisdom, interesting conversation, and amazing prizes, it was certainly an afternoon to remember!

Here, staff members eagerly await the arrival of over 215 volunteers and program supporters at the check-in table.

The room was soon filled to the brim with positive energy and excitement.

5-year drivers

10-year drivers

15-year drivers

Many wonderful door prizes were given out to over 30 lucky winners.

There was even a unique fish basket.

Cindy Zwart, Transportation Program Director and Senior Services employee for 25 years, included a humorous and thoughtful Top Ten list in her remarks. All volunteer drivers could relate to her commentary.  Her "Top Ten Reasons You Know You are a Volunteer Driver" were as follows:

1. You don’t get paid. And believe me, we couldn’t afford to pay you! Last year you donated over 55,000 hours of your time – the value of your time based on Washington State’s estimated value of volunteer labor was $1,266,824.90!

2. On a regular basis, your significant other looks at you and says, “Are you taking the car again, dear?”

3. You know the back roads to every medical facility in King County.

4. You feel really, really good! Studies show that people who volunteer experience better physical health, including lower blood pressure, increased brain function, lower rates of depression and a longer lifespan. Which means you can drive for us for many more years!

5. You are the star of your book club because now you have time to read each month’s selection while waiting at the doctor’s office for your client.

6. You have a recurring nightmare that you are lost in a parking garage in downtown Seattle and cannot find your way out.

7. You mean to call your husband, but you call Donald [Lead Volunteer Transportation Coordinator] instead.

8. You’ve made many, many new friends. In all their cards and letters, clients describe you as their friend, their life saver, their hero, their guardian angel. Every time you drive, you bring a smile to their face, a little joy to their day, you touch their hearts and make they realize that someone cares.

9. Every year you get to attend a fabulous Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon.

10. At night when you go to sleep, and in the morning when you wake up, you know in your heart that whatever evils and problems afflict this world that you are helping to make our community a more humane and better place to live.

The festive occasion renewed enthusiasm for continuing our collective work to “make our community a more humane and better place to live.”

***We’d like to publicly thank this year’s door prize sponsors who helped make the 2015 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon such a resounding success: Ivar’s/Kidd Valley Restaurants, Taco Time, Tim’s Cascade Potato Chips, McLendon Hardware, Jiffy Lube, PCC Natural Markets, EMP Museum, Washington Dental Service, Brown Bear Car Wash, LeMay Car Museum, Total Wine & More, Wing Luke Museum, Trader Joe’s, Museum of Flight, Ethan Stowell’s Chippy’s restaurant in Ballard, Mary Ann Arnone, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Chocolates, Office Depot/Office Max, Emerald Downs, Trident Seafood, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Paula Houston, Pacific Science Center, Donald and Teresa Benedict, and Tulalip Resort Casino.

We were delighted to see our program, including volunteer driver Bill Goodfellow and client Mary Roberts, featured in this article in today's edition of the Seattle Times.  We were profiled because Senior Services is one of twelve local agencies that will benefit from the Seattle Times Fund For the Needy.  What an exciting opportunity!

We'd like to share the story's narrative about Volunteer Transportation here:

Seniors helping seniors
While some Seattle and King County residents enjoyed an economic resurgence after the recession of 2008, those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder have not shared in the prosperity.

In the annual overnight count of homeless in King County early this year, volunteers found 3,772 men, women and children had no shelter, more than a 20 percent increase from the previous year.

Alison Eisinger, executive director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, called the tally “heartbreaking evidence that we cannot cover our community’s most basic needs.”

The numbers of people in need are large. The Census Bureau estimates that 60,000 children and 20,000 seniors in King County are living in households below the poverty level.
As baby boomers age, the ranks of elders swell. Today’s “youngest” oldsters may need to stay in the workforce longer, or live more years in which they’ll depend on Social Security and savings.

In the effort to help seniors, Senior Services uses a particularly effective resource: other seniors.

Of the 3,800 volunteers that put in a combined 274,000 hours last year, the agency estimates that 85 percent were at least 60 years old.

Among them is Bill Goodfellow, of Seattle, who’ll turn 80 in December.

For seven years — usually several times a week — he has driven Senior Services clients to doctor visits or other appointments. He stays through their appointments and takes them home.

The retired architect and structural engineer happily gives up the time. If the appointment is a long one, that’s fine, he said. It gives him more time to read the library books — including many mysteries — he has downloaded onto his iPad.

Goodfellow forgoes the money Senior Services offers for gas and parking, as do other drivers he knows, who consider it part of “their contribution to the program.”

Mary Roberts, 89, of Seattle, gets dropped off at her dentist’s office by Senior Services volunteer Bill Goodfellow. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)

The unsung heroes of the program, he said, are the Senior Services staffers who, a week at a time, match up ride requests with the available drivers.

Senior Services’ ride programs took clients a total of 1,113,422 miles last year, the equivalent of more than two round trips to the moon.

The best part of the assignment, he said, is meeting interesting people, such as Mary Roberts, 89, whom he recently drove from her Capitol Hill apartment to her Beacon Hill dentist.

Mary Roberts, 89, of Seattle, jokes around with Senior Services volunteer driver Bill Goodfellow, who turns 80 in December. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)

A few years ago, Roberts might not have envisioned needing this service. But that changed when she got in a serious car crash while driving to a square-dancing session in West Seattle.

“No one was injured, thankfully. But I decided it was a sign. I couldn’t take the thought of hurting someone.” So she hung up her car keys for good.

Roberts, a retired materials-purchasing manager for a railroad, enjoys walking and doesn’t mind the 12-block walk to her church, Capitol Hill Presbyterian.

But she’s glad to have the option of Senior Services rides to doctor visits. She makes donations for the rides — but still less than she’d have to pay if she used a taxi.

And she regards Goodfellow as nothing less than an important civic asset.

“He just a really sweet guy,” she said. “And we’re fortunate to have him.”

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 As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, we give thanks for Bill and all the rest of our our amazing and inspiring volunteer drivers!