(Posted 2021 November)
The 2021 Thanksgiving project was a success! This project started with a partnership between: Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, ECHO, United Community, Lorton Community Action Center, Food for Others and Cornerstones. These groups provided one box per client, which included a freshly prepared Thanksgiving meal, refrigerated items and non-perishable items.
The success of the Thanksgiving project was due to the work and collaboration of several people.
Volunteer Solutions (VS) was grateful to have the help of 133 volunteers, who placed reminder calls to clients before the delivery, and then delivered the food on Tuesday, Nov. 23. VS staff coordinated the placement of volunteers into designated time slots to keep the flow moving at each pick-up location. VS staff were also on-site at each pick-up location to provide route information to volunteers, assist with loading their cars, and answer any questions.
Nutrition (Meals on Wheels) staff called clients a couple of weeks before the delivery to prepare them, were on-hand to assist in packaging the meals on the day of the event and helped deliver them. Fastran also played an important role by going to multiple locations to pick-up food and take it to various congregate locations, as well as Insight Memory Care. In total, 640 meals were prepared and distributed. Meals on Wheels clients received 543 meals, Congregate participants received 78 meals and Insight Memory Care participants received 19 meals.
The following volunteers also contributed hundreds of hand-made, thoughtful, Thanksgiving cards: The Junior Volunteer League of Vienna, Young Men’s Service League- Oakton-Vienna, and Volunteer Solutions’ Caring Cards writers.
Recipients Expressed Their Gratitude
“I just wanted to call and say thank you so very much for my Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoyed it. It was one of the best dinners I've had in years. Everything was perfect. I didn't even heat it up. I just had it cold. I was so hungry, so I'm very grateful for that. Thank you for your help.”
“I am in tears. Happy, happy tears! We are so overwhelmed with this generosity!"
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We are so thankful. The people who delivered were so kind and I cried when I read the card. I’m going to keep this card forever.”
“I’m crying because I am very grateful for the food. I haven't had a Thanksgiving in over 12 years so I'm very grateful for the food and the person who delivered was a lovely lady. Very nice. Thank you for your kindness.”
“I am blown away by the amount of food delivered today! The volunteer was so nice and helpful bringing the bags to my kitchen. This has saved me a trip to the store for Thanksgiving food. Thank you so much!”
This article is part of the Department of Family Services Older Adults Volunteer Solutions Caring Community Updates e-news – providing a variety of updates and articles about our volunteers in action. Learn more about Volunteer Solutions.