A couple of weeks ago I reported an incident with Meals on Wheels where the number of meals delivered to me was about half the number I needed to deliver. Recently the same thing happened to Richard Haines, another driver at our pickup point. However, in this case Richard was escorting County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan. Apparently March is national "March for Meals Month" and the good supervisor was showing her support by actually riding along to see how the operation runs here in Sacramento and to talk with some of the drivers and meal recipients. Well, she got to do that as well as see how a driver handles a glitch in the system.
There is probably no better person to demonstrate the system than Richard. While the rest of us volunteers are content to show up on our designated driving day and deliver the meals we've been allocated, Richard goes the extra mile and makes sure that all the routes are covered. When they must miss a day, some drivers get their own substitutes while others don't feel comfortable doing that. In either case, Richard keeps on top of the schedule and lets everyone know through frequent updating and emailing of the schedule. Where necessary, he steps in and substitutes himself if he cannot find others to do it. That might mean he drives 3 or 4 times in a week. He does this without compensation other than knowing that the organization runs better because of him. He's even been known to undertake small home repairs for MOW recipients and, in one notable case, play matchmaker.
Thank you, Richard, for being an outstanding, if unofficial, volunteer coordinator.
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