{"id":2328,"date":"2020-03-03T16:06:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T21:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bayaging.org\/?p=2328"},"modified":"2020-03-03T16:06:21","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T21:06:21","slug":"for-jessica-schlosshan-and-her-daughter-volunteering-is-a-family-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flagonsworkshop.net\/?p=2328","title":{"rendered":"For Jessica Schlosshan and Her Daughter Volunteering is a Family Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jessica<\/p>\n

March for Meals Campaign Celebrates Bay Aging\u2019s Meals on Wheels Program \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jessica Schlosshan has been delivering Meals on Wheels in Mathews County for six years, but she\u2019s been volunteering since she was a child. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve always been an advocate for the elderly,\u201d Jessica said.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I was in Girl Scouts, we\u2019d go to nursing homes on holidays and play games with the residents.\u00a0 Their faces would light up like a Christmas tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica first learned about Bay Aging\u2019s Meals on Wheels program driving by the Mathews County Active Lifestyle Center where she saw a volunteers needed sign.\u00a0 \u201cI decided to drop in and learn about it,\u201d she said.\u00a0 There she met Laura Matthews, who manages the center and coordinates Meals on Wheels deliveries throughout Mathews County.\u00a0 \u201cI love Laura.\u00a0 She\u2019s incredible and I was excited to get started,\u201d Jessica noted. \u00a0Now, after six years of making deliveries in the Cobb\u2019s Creek area, \u201cMany of my clients feel like family.\u00a0 We spend a lot of time with some of the homebound seniors outside of Meals on Wheels.\u00a0 We celebrate birthdays, bring them books, and even get replacement parts for canes or walkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cwe\u201d Jessica referred to are both the Meals on Wheels recipients and her daughter, Raven, a senior at Mathews County High School.\u00a0 \u201cShe loves Meals on Wheels,\u201d Jessica said.\u00a0 \u201cRaven has been riding with me and participating when it doesn\u2019t conflict with school.\u00a0 If I\u2019m sick, she can cover for me and does my route when needed so we don\u2019t have to have Laura scrambling for a substitute volunteer. The Meals on Wheels recipients love Raven and she loves them. \u00a0It\u2019s become a family affair for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meals on Wheels volunteers often cite the many benefits they realize from volunteering.\u00a0 \u201cThey are a blessing,\u201d Jessica said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s one thing I always look forward to.\u00a0 If I\u2019m having a bad day, I just remind myself that I will soon be filling their bellies while they fill my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura Matthews said, \u201cWe are so thankful to Mathews County Public Schools for the incredible, home-cooked meals they prepare for our seniors every week.\u201d\u00a0 Added Jessica,\u201d The ladies in the Mathews cafeteria who cook the meals are incredible!\u00a0 The food they make early every morning is prepared with so much love.\u00a0 The Cobb\u2019s Creek route takes me about three hours, yet the last meals is always hot and just as delicious as the first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bay Aging is almost always seeking individuals to give of their time as volunteers in our Meals on Wheels program.\u00a0 Typically, volunteers serve approximately two to three hours once a week delivering meals to the seniors in their community.\u00a0 However, we are extremely flexible and can arrange a volunteer schedule that works for you.\u00a0\u00a0 Ken Rogers, Director of Bay Aging\u2019s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), noted, \u201cAlmost every county we serve has a rapidly growing senior population and, in many cases, Meals on Wheels deliveries are the only way these seniors can continue to live independently in their own homes.\u00a0 For example, about a third of the residents in Mathews County are age 65 or older and many of these seniors live alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The national March for Meals campaign is an annual month-long event designed to generate public awareness about senior hunger and isolation and to celebrate the invaluable services provided by senior nutrition programs. Given the exemplary public-private partnership that Bay Aging\u2019s Meals on Wheels embodies, this annual campaign is also intended to showcase the successes of the Older Americans Act, help recruit new volunteers from our community and to increase fundraising from local businesses and supporters. To volunteer and\/or donate, please visit www.bayaging.org\/support<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About Bay Aging:<\/p>\n

For over 40 years, Bay Aging has been caring for older adults and people with disabilities in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula with meals, home and personal care, public transportation, home repairs and living options. Our goal is to help people live independently in their own homes and communities surrounded by their own things and, wherever possible, their families and friends. Our top priority is to keep independence, home and community at the hub of life in the rural counties we serve.<\/p>\n

Last year Bay Aging\u2019s services affected over 23,000 lives!\u00a0 Every year, we:<\/p>\n