Meals on Wheels introduces ConnectingYou!

MASSILLON, OH – June 11, 2018 – Meals on Wheels of Stark & Wayne Counties is connecting volunteers, clients, and the community through its new program, ConnectingYou!

ConnectingYou is designed to bring everyone within the agency – from volunteers and clients to the staff members – closer together by providing a user-friendly and efficient platform for its services. Meals on Wheels can now ensure that volunteer drivers have an easy and fun experience delivering, while also enhancing its own ability to communicate in real time with drivers on important issues, such as meal cancellations, directional notes, and client no-answers. Through a custom Meals on Wheels delivery app and the use of tablets, ConnectingYou has simplified the entire volunteer experience.

For new volunteers, this creates a seamless introduction to delivering through familiar and easy to use technology. For current Meals on Wheels volunteers, who originally learned their routes through handwritten instructions, ConnectingYou has been a revolutionary and positive transition.

“I’m a big fan of the tablets! They are a real help to anyone delivering Meals on Wheels.” – Stark County Commission, Richard Regula, Meals on Wheels Volunteer

“If I can do it, anybody can do it!” – Margaret Fowler, Meals on Wheels Volunteer (*volunteer for more than 30 years!)

“Tablets work great! Very convenient and helpful. Congratulations, Meals on Wheels! Thanks for the technology!” – Mike Busch, Meals on Wheels Volunteer

To learn more about ConnectingYou, watch this video overviewing the program and technology: https://youtu.be/3BSGlbCIq6s

ConnectingYou would not have been possible without the generosity of Verizon Wireless, who donated 80 tablets to Meals on Wheels. In addition to Verizon’s donation, its team played an invaluable role in educating Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers. Also crucial to the success of ConnectingYou have been the program’s ambassadors. Ambassadors are regular volunteers who chose to dedicate extra time testing the tablets, teaching information to fellow volunteers, and assisting with implementation at each of their delivery sites. Meals on Wheels is also thankful to Crossroads Hospice and Danbury Senior Living for sponsoring special t-shirts for ConnectingYou ambassadors.

“ConnectingYou is the result of so many people coming together and working to improve our agency. From the generosity of Verizon, Crossroads, and Danbury, to the adaptability and enthusiasm of our volunteers, everyone played a role in transforming the delivery process.” said Ted Watko, CEO of Meals on Wheels of Stark & Wayne Counties. “We are in urgent need of volunteer support, and thanks to everyone’s hard work and positivity, we have positioned ourselves so that new and current volunteers have the best volunteer experience possible.”

The agency depends on at least 65 volunteers each day to deliver more than 1,600 meals to nutritionally at-risk individuals throughout Stark and Wayne Counties. Volunteers can choose the location and days that are most convenient with their schedules. Drivers must be licensed and have auto insurance coverage. Deliveries are made between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. The agency provides volunteers with training and mileage reimbursement. Meals on Wheels welcomes those who would like to become regular drivers, or occasional substitute drivers. There is also an Adopt-A-Route program which allows companies to deliver in the community through an employee-rotation schedule.

It is especially important that Meals on Wheels finds volunteers now, as the need for its services increases. The agency is serving 200 more meals per day than it was at this time last year and expects to continue growing. In order to keep up with the need, Meals on Wheels must find more volunteers.

For those individuals or businesses interested in volunteering at Meals on Wheels, please contact Volunteer Specialist, Anngi Klick, at 330-832-7220 ext. 113 or email: klick@mow-starkwayne.org.

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About Meals on Wheels of Stark & Wayne Counties

Meals on Wheels of Stark & Wayne Counties is a non-profit agency that provides nutritional support to homebound individuals of all ages. Services include delivery of hot meals, breakfast meals, sack suppers, frozen meals, chopped meals, pureed meals and liquid supplements (pending physician referral), Monday through Friday. The agency has 16 sites throughout Stark and Wayne Counties and depends on volunteers to fulfill its mission. To learn more about the agency’s services and programs, including how to become a volunteer, call 330-832-7220 or 1-800-466-8010, or visit www.mow-starkwayne.org.