×

RSVP volunteers applauded at luncheon

Food delivery program would need drivers

APPRECIATION SHOWN — The Salvation Army of Steubenville hosted a recent thank-you luncheon for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Columbiana and Jefferson County. On hand were, from left, Gerald Kelly, RSVP director; Marti Leake, program coordinator; and Capts. Angie and Michael Smith, local Salvation Army corps commanding officers. -- Janice Kiaski

STEUBENVILLE — The Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Columbiana and Jefferson counties celebrated its Jefferson County volunteers during a recent thank-you luncheon and extended an appeal for volunteers to help get a food delivery program off the ground and on the road for homebound intercity Steubenville seniors with food insecurity needs.

The Salvation Army of Steubenville, led by Capts. Michael and Angie Smith, corps commanding officers, served as hosts of the luncheon that involved comments from Marti Leake, RSVP program coordinator; Gerald Kelly, RSVP director; and Jillian Maynard of Mahoning County, AmeriCorp VISTA member of SSAG, an acronym for Senior Support Action Group, which is looking to expand into Jefferson County.

Capt. Mike Smith welcomed the modest-sized group of RSVP volunteers, and Capt. Angie Smith gave the prayer.

Leake introduced staff on hand, including Maynard, noting, “We started a program in Columbiana and Mahoning counties that we call the Senior Support Action Group. What we do is we pick up food at a food bank and we deliver it to home-bound seniors,” she said, inviting Maynard to expound.

“It relies on volunteer drivers to come through and pick up food boxes and go to the seniors’ homes,” Maynard said, noting she has helped with the sustainability of the program. “It started during the pandemic, but a lot of the seniors’ needs existed before the pandemic started, and now we’re trying to make this a long-term program that continues on.”

Added Leake, “Our hopes are that we will be expanding into Jefferson County very shortly with the help of Mike and Angie here at the Salvation Army, who have graciously agreed to provide food boxes for us as well as a hub for a person to come and do phone apps.”

“We think very highly of RSVP and what they do for Jefferson County,” commented Capt. Mike Smith as the luncheon began. “We partner with them now. They have a couple of people volunteering for us, and we’re looking for a couple more volunteers possibly. We’re looking to start a program where we can get enough volunteers to take food boxes to the community that can’t come out and get a food box. We have our food pantry here but with her volunteers, we’re looking to build a volunteer base to be able to go out and deliver food also.”

“The goal for this Senior Support Action Group is to expand into Jefferson County so we want to serve the seniors of Jefferson County so any home-bound seniors who have a difficult time accessing food, if they’re food insecure or can’t get out of their home to get to grocery stores or other places or if they’re just alone, so a lot of seniors suffer from the death of a spouse or disability at an older age so they don’t necessarily have the relationships that they once did, so we want to work to identify those individuals and help get them in touch with our services,” Maynard said.

“This idea was born out of the pandemic “when we realized seniors should not be in grocery stores, they could not get access to food so my colleague from Youngstown – the RSVP coordinator of Mahoning County – came up with this idea and was building on it, so I came on board with her to help her, and at one point it just kind of morphed into we’re serving more than 500 boxes last year of food to more than 200 folks in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. Now we’re ready to take that next step to Jefferson County,” Maynard continued.

Leake said she partners with the Salvation Army in Salem and East Liverpool. “They provide the food for Columbiana County so it was only natural to ask the Salvation Army to do the same and they graciously agreed so now it’s getting those drivers who will come here, pick up the food and deliver it inner city,” she added.

“To pull that off I need volunteer drivers. If they sign up with RSVP to be a driver they get a small mileage reimbursement and their vehicle will be covered under our supplemental car insurance while they’re volunteering,” she said.

“My biggest obstacle with getting that started is I need drivers,” Leake said. “I need volunteer drivers before we can actually get it off the ground. I’ve got the food secured, everything I need. I just need volunteer drivers,” explained Leake, who no sooner had begun the duties of RSVP program coordinator in November 2019 when the pandemic escalated.

“I was just learning the job when the world shut down. I actually had a recognition dinner planned for March 30, 2020, but it had to be canceled due to the pandemic, and it was supposed to be here,” she said, meaning the Salvation Army of Steubenville.

She thinks of herself, she said, as “the volunteer matchmaker” in her RSVP role. “I partner with area nonprofits, and I find volunteers 55 or older, and I place them in meaningful opportunities. I try to interview the volunteers to see what they like, see what their interests are and then I find that perfect placement for them with the area partners I have.”

Between Jefferson and Columbiana counties, she had 103 volunteers with more always welcome, according to Leake, who does recruitment events whenever possible, having a presence at area events.

Gerald Kelly gave the audience insight on the history of RSVP, a program of AmeriCorps Seniors started in 1965. “We are in all 50 states, and our organization manages this program in 15 Ohio counties, Jefferson County being one of them. We really love what we do and focus on a few areas on healthy futures, addressing food insecurity, and want to address education, to have senior mentors in schools helping children learn not just for the academic but the socially-emotional part. We also provide transportation for people to get to medical appointments or the grocery store. We also have companion programs during COVID that morphed into a telephone program,” he explained.

“Thank you for being a part of this. It is your service that makes a difference. You are the glue that keeps it together. Think about it in your life — you must have had a whole lot of people helping you along. And that’s what you’re doing for other people,” Kelly said.

Despite the pandemic, Jefferson County volunteers logged 11,000 hours of service during 2020, a fete Leake applauded. “Thank you for your service,” she said. “That was just amazing to me that even during a pandemic, and you all being of that age where it was very scary to be out, a lot of you continued to serve so thank you very much.”

For information, Leake can be reached at mleake@fcsserves.org or (330) 424-7877. The Salvation Army’s number is (740) 2825121.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today