Giving back

Shari Borzekowski, administrative and resource assistant at The Thompson Center in Woodstock, sets out bags of food for Meals on Wheels drivers on Thursday morning. The bags are taken to the drivers' vehicles as they pull up, in order to ensure social distancing. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

Great inspiration has come from seeing local volunteers step up to meet critical needs during the health crisis. Their amazing work continues today, in the middle of National Volunteer Week.
Nationwide, Meals on Wheels drivers — some of them new to the program — are helping to keep our senior neighbors fed and offering them cheerful greetings each week, albeit from a distance. That interaction can go a long way, at a time when they have to stay home to stay safe.
When the crisis hit in mid-March, The Thompson Center in Woodstock, Vermont, found itself in great need of Meals on Wheels volunteers, at a time when most of its local drivers were over 60 and would have to stay home to avoid exposure to COVID-19.
However, before long, the senior center had 25 new volunteers for the program. One of them was Woodstock resident Paige Hiller, who contacted the center about six weeks ago to ask how she could help. Now, Hiller drives a local route for the Meals program each Tuesday, and her 17-year-old daughter Isabelle joins her. Each volunteer has a mask, gloves and hand sanitizer, and they sanitize between each drop off.
At each stop, Paige Hiller said, she places the bag of food on the door and then backs away more than six feet, so that the person can safely grab the bag. At one home, a man joyfully greets her each time.
“He wishes me a good day, and I wish him a good day,” Hiller said, noting how important that brief greeting is, especially for those seniors who live alone. “This may be their only interaction with a person each day. Anything to bring a smile to their face, I’d do that in a heartbeat.”
This is familiar ground for Hiller, whose mother instilled in her an appreciation for community service early on in life. Years ago while working in Boston, Hiller was part of the Junior League organization and volunteered for a variety of places, including a thrift shop and a homeless shelter for women.
“I think giving back is really, really important,” Hiller said.
As a country, she thought there should be a stronger spotlight on how people are helping each other through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nationally, I wish we would focus more on the kindness and what people are doing for their neighbors,” she said.
There is always room for more news about good deeds, especially these days. If this crisis has taught us anything, it is that, for all the difficult topics, there is some goodness right around the corner to lift us up. The army of volunteers, in Vermont and around the country, are helping us see that every day. And that’s important to celebrate.

— Gareth Henderson