Did you know there are hero’s among us!? Dressed in everyday AIM clothing? Check out this story….
For three years, Cambridge staff and participants have been taking pride in their weekly Meals on Wheels delivers. This volunteer placement began when the program first opened. At the time, there were fewer participants, so it seemed like a great thing to get involved in. There was intense training that required participants and staff to pass training standards and submit a police record checks. Participants and staff worked HARD to become Meals on Wheels official volunteers. Little did they know this role would one day save a woman’s life… literally.
As the program grew with more participants it’s became more difficult to balance the requirements of Meals on Wheels and the AIM program needs. But they weren’t willing to let go of this special role yet and here’s a good reason why….
It was a Friday over a year ago when our staff Elyse and 3 participants were on their meal delivery route. With meals in hand they approached a familiar door and knocked. The door was answered by a woman they recognized as their meal recipient but they very quickly noted something wasn’t right. The woman seemed in distressed, disoriented and in need of help. Without being able to clearly communicate with the woman they decided to followed their instincts and their training and called for medial support.
In doing this, our AIM Cambridge Meals on Wheels team saved this woman’s life. She in fact was having a heart attack. The daughter of this woman claims that without our team’s intervention and quick thinking her mother would not be alive today. So in fact, a life was saved by the efforts of our Cambridge program.
It’s true that our participants have gifts and abilities that can impact and inspire the world. We encourage them to take pride and be proud of their contributions to their community. Through their volunteer work and good samaritan efforts they are capable of making a real difference.
We encourage you to go ahead and engage with or hire people with different abilities – we can all ‘be the difference’!
