[0:04] my name is Chris Feling Um have four

[0:07] children married Uh they're all adults

[0:09] right now We have one that's special

[0:11] needs So I know what it takes for care

[0:14] and you know and another one that needs

[0:16] a little bit of help as well One of our

[0:18] sons So one daughter special needs and

[0:20] three sons I started with Meals on

[0:22] Wheels about 7 years maybe almost 8

[0:25] years now going on um it uh came across

[0:30] as one of the volunteer requests and I

[0:32] thought this is something I can do So

[0:34] I've been doing it for quite a while I

[0:36] guess and I don't think I missed too

[0:38] many unless I took a couple vacations in

[0:40] between I do it every week on Mondays Uh

[0:43] yeah it takes anywhere from an hour Um

[0:46] at one point I think I had the longest

[0:48] route but not it didn't bother me I mean

[0:50] it's all around you know the eastern

[0:52] side here in 622 school district and uh

[0:56] elderly some are in apartments some are

[0:58] in homes Uh so it's been uh very good

[1:02] for those that can't get out and are

[1:04] homebound I like that the Meals on

[1:07] Wheels program also provides non-p

[1:08] perishables in the winter like

[1:10] toothbrush toothpaste canned goods Uh

[1:14] they do that usually once a year as well

[1:16] so that uh the folks that receive Meals

[1:19] on Wheels can stock up on some of that

[1:21] too in case there's a bad snowstorm and

[1:24] some of the volunteers could not get to

[1:26] their place I think the most rewarding

[1:28] and favorite part of Meals on Wheels is

[1:30] interacting with the recipients the the

[1:33] folks that do receive a hot meal or

[1:36] frozen meal Um when I told them that I

[1:39] was done volunteering um a couple were

[1:42] in tears and actually gave me a hug and

[1:44] that meant a lot to me Um you know one I

[1:47] I recall one of the women that I

[1:50] delivered a hot meal to she wanted to

[1:52] give me her Christmas list with some

[1:55] money to go buy her Christmas gifts and

[1:56] I said "I would love to do that but

[1:59] unfortunately I've got more hot meals in

[2:00] the cold car you know that I need to

[2:02] deliver." But um so yeah I think they're

[2:05] anxious to have someone to just chat

[2:07] with a bit Um I've had some of them give

[2:10] me lilacs flowers out of their yard I

[2:13] mean it's very rewarding just to be able

[2:16] to interact with the folks and see that

[2:19] they're getting at least frozen meals

[2:21] for the week or a hot meal that day When

[2:24] I heard that I won I was kind of

[2:25] surprised cuz I know there's a lot of

[2:27] great volunteers out there and uh a lot

[2:30] of great folks So I was appreciative

[2:34] that Tim Douly you know nominated me but

[2:36] I was also shocked that I'd be one of

[2:38] them to win Um you know to me it's not

[2:41] about getting special recognition It was

[2:43] really about spending some time and it's

[2:45] a small commitment out of your daytoday

[2:48] life when you're not working and could

[2:50] give the time back to the community and

[2:52] to seniors So I think uh that was most

[2:55] important in in the years that I did the

[2:58] Meals on Wheels If if you're looking for

[3:01] a place to volunteer I think look at

[3:03] what you like to do what you're kind of

[3:06] passionate about and I do like to

[3:09] interact with people Um but I think if

[3:12] you're looking to to do some

[3:14] volunteering I'd highly recommend it cuz

[3:16] it's more rewarding than you think and

[3:18] it's not that big of an investment of

[3:20] time That's where I would put my

[3:21] guidance and and go for it

[3:26] [Music]