A Meeting Nine Years in the Making



Imagine having someone cook for you for years and never seeing their face.  For nine years, Helen didn’t know who Darlene was. They didn’t even know each other’s names. Then, on one March morning the two met and ate together. It was a literal depiction of the Meals on Wheels program in motion.





Darlene Wilcox, Red Cross Cook
Speaks with the Media

Darlene has been a cook for the American Red Cross for nine years and Helen has been a client that entire time. Darlene graciously accepted an invitation as did Helen to sit down and eat a meal together Darlene herself helped cook. This meeting illustrated the impact of one person and one partnership in the lives of some many others.

How does the partnership work? The American Red Cross cooks prepare and package the meals. Visiting Nurse Service volunteer drivers deliver the meals to hundreds of clients in the area. More than 1,500 people were served more than 250,000 meals last year. What better way to show that collaboration than having this meeting?

If you want to see the actual story, the four major news stations in Rochester covered the meeting. The links to the story are below.

http://www.13wham.com/community/features/bright-spot/stories/bright-spot-ladies-lunch-165.shtml

http://www.whec.com/article/stories/s3367841.shtml

http://rochester.twcnews.com/content/search/721174/more-than-a-meal/

 

 



 

#SpringItOn 2014

It’s been a long cold winter but Spring is here believe it or not! To celebrate the new season why not Spring It On?

#SpringItOn is United Way’s Day of giving in Erie and Niagara Counties as well as some surrounding communities happening Thursday, March 20 at 8am through Friday, March 21 at 8am.  More than 200 area non-profits signed up to take part in the event which is designed to make the community aware of these charitable organizations that do amazing work for those in need in our community.

So how can you help the event and the American Red Cross on this day which falls during Red Cross Month? You can visit www.springiton.org/RedCrossBuffaloNiagara or www.springiton.org/arcswny make a donation. You can also share the link with your friends and family via social media such as Twitter and Facebook.  

Our goal for this year in the Buffalo Niagara Region is $5,000 and in the Southwestern Region it is $1,000. Why? The reason is simple. The average cost for the American Red Cross to provide food, shelter and clothing for a family of four after a house fire is $1,000. $5,000 could help five families in the community should they have to deal with a fire in their home. Here in Western New York, the American Red Cross responds to an average of two fires a day as well as other disasters.  Please help us to continue to provide for those when the unexpected happens so get out there and #SpringItOn!