With the holidays approaching, there is an increasing focus on gifts. The Friendship Center is asking you to give the gift of your time as a delivery driver or as an RSVP volunteer.
The Friendship Center is needing both primary and backup drivers, according to spokesperson Gwen Burenheide.
If you can legally drive, fellow spokesperson Barb Lowery says you’re encouraged to participate.
Burenheide says the backup driver list would be helpful in case primary drivers can’t make deliveries in last-minute situations. At least five backup drivers are desired.
The Friendship Center’s delivery driver program takes meals from the center at 221 West Logan to 11 different routes in Emporia, including care facilities and homes. The meal program also supplies meals to senior centers in Neosho Rapids and Olpe for deliveries out of those locations. Burenheide says the Friendship Center works with driver schedules, with options ranging from once a month to every weekday. Besides delivering meals, drivers are often the only people to visit seniors on a daily basis — and can be lifesavers in cases of different medical situations that arise.
The Friendship Center is also calling attention to its longstanding RSVP program, which offers volunteering opportunities for residents ages 55 and up as part of the Americorps senior program. The Volunteer Patrol project through local law enforcement is included. RSVP volunteers aren’t limited to Friendship Center projects, although the center needs volunteers to pack care boxes for seniors after recent donations of laundry supplies and towels.
For more information about either the delivery driver or RSVP programs, call the Friendship Center at 620-340-8001 or stop by the office at 221 West Logan.
