Volunteer Drivers Needed continued from page 1 “This is the one for drivers.” Lovelace and McGarry interview passengers and drivers, screen, keep records and coordinate rides. Transportation has been a concern in every area plan A1AA has put together over 30 years, so A1AA linked with RSVP, Volunteer Center of the Redwoods and the Safety Net Funding Partnership to bring the volunteer driver program to the Eel River Valley 20 months ago. Last fall, it expanded to Eureka. “We are expanding into McKinleyville and Arcata, but we need more drivers,” McGarry said.
Key requirements for applicants include: a satisfactory Department of Motor Vehicles Report; a mechanically sound car equipped with seatbelts; car liability insurance that includes $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 per bodily injury; and a fingerprint and sex offender registry check. “We need people who enjoy being with others, who want to help others access life sustaining activities, and who are prompt and reliable,” McGarry said. She’d also welcome those willing to go the extra mile, so to speak. Drivers run from Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but she fields requests for transport at other times. “The volunteer sets the limits of when and where,” McGarry said. One rider needed to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. for eye surgery. “I put it in the calendar. And Hughes said, ‘Give me his number.’” “I had to set my clock at 4 a.m. one day,” Hughes said. “But I wanted to help. It’s not that hard to adjust, and I kill two birds with one stone. I’ve got one guy who goes to a hyperbaric chamber for a three-and-a-half hour ordeal. I go for a walk by the
ocean to wait.” Federal funding and a grant from a legal settlement related to nursing home care set mileage reimbursement at 44 cents a mile, but McGarry said some refuse to take it. “They just want to serve and not be bothered with paperwork,” she said. “People talk about themselves and I try to lighten their day,” Hughes said. “If you could put it in one sentence: it makes you relevant.” To volunteer, call 707-4423711 or e-mail volunteervcor@a1aa.org.
Nursery and Garden Center Shop and Power Equipment Landscape Contractors 1828 Central Ave. • McKinleyville • millerfarmsnursery.com Gray Matters is a quarterly publication of the Area I Agency on Aging. Maggie Kraft, Executive Director • mkraft@a1aa.org Carol Harrison, Editor • cah5@humboldt.edu AIAA is located at 434 Seventh Street in Eureka, 95501, across the street from Eureka Inn. Phone: 707-442-3763 Gray Matters is designed by graphic artist Lynn Jones of the NCJ and is posted on the NCJ website at www.northcoastjournal.com The next edition of Gray Matters is January 3, 2013.
8 SPECIAL INSERT TO THE NORTH COAST JOURNAL • THURSDAY, SEP. 27, 2012