Beginning this week, the Visiting Nurse Association of Porter County’s new Meals on Wheels truck will hit the road. The blue and white Chevy Colorado Hotshot helps the VNA ensure food safety for Meals on Wheels clients through its onboard temperature control. The truck will be used to pick up meals prepared at Pines Village Retirement Community and deliver them to Alterra Sterling House in Portage, where VNA Meals on Wheels volunteers will distribute them to clients in the Portage area.
In honor of the nearly 500 VNA volunteers who help make programs such as Meals on Wheels and Hospice possible, the new truck features photographs of actual VNA volunteers. After the truck was delivered, some of the volunteers pictured on the truck gathered to celebrate on a cold, windy and rainy afternoon.
“Volunteers are essential to the VNA in nearly everything we do. And, now we are looking for volunteers to help drive our new truck,” says Janelle Zolkowski, Meals on Wheels coordinator. Volunteer drivers are needed to pick up the prepared meals from Pines Village in Valparaiso to deliver to Alterra Sterling House in Portage. The volunteer activity takes about three (3) hours from, 9:45 a.m.— 12:45 p.m. five days a week. Volunteers may choose to drive one day a month, several days a week, or anything in between.
VNA Meals on Wheels has provided nutritional, hot lunches to Porter County residents since 1974. Anyone interested in becoming a Meals on Wheels volunteer is asked to call the VNA at 462-5195. For more information about the programs and services offered, please call the VNA or visit the VNA website at www.VNAportercounty.org.
Photo: VNA volunteers gather to celebrate the new VNA Meals on Wheels truck. Pictured left to right: Jean Brutout, Marcia Sundberg, Leo Prassas, Lynda Krueger, Shellie Littlejohn, Barb Claypool, Leo Simon, Bob Claypool, Sherri Nibbe