Police officers’ special deliveries highlight need for more volunteer service

By Jill Callison, for Pigeon605

New recruits with the Sioux Falls Police Department on Wednesday put a different spin on “to protect and serve” when “to serve” meant packaging and delivering a meal of meatballs in gravy, home fries, green beans and a banana to local residents who are elderly or disabled.

The Police Department’s newest hires, who started Aug. 2, spent the entire day volunteering with organizations that feed people in need. The class of 15 recruits split up and spent the morning assisting either the Meals on Wheels program at Active Generation or the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House.

In the afternoon, the groups divided their time between helping at Feeding South Dakota or Lunch is Served Inc. The fact that every organization involved fighting hunger turned out to be a happy coincidence, said Sgt. Jessica Speckmier, training sergeant for the SFPD.

“We utilized the 211 Helpline when we started looking for places needing volunteers, and we found a bunch of different potential agencies,” she said. “Honestly, it just worked out that way.”

For the Meals on Wheels staff, the offer of seven or eight pairs of hands to package and deliver the meals eased the stress on a program that couldn’t survive without volunteers.

“We do about 21,000 to 22,000 meals a month Monday through Friday,” said Rebecca Behnke, Active Generation’s nutrition director. “We currently have 28 routes that go throughout the city done by our volunteers.”

Some volunteers offer to deliver meals a week at a time while others pick a particular day of the month to assist. While it has 10 to 12 people who help out as needed, when there aren’t enough drivers then Active Generation staff fills in. New volunteers are always needed.

Meals on Wheels serves adults 60 or older or disabled and approved for inclusion in the program. It also helps out in situations where someone serving as a caretaker can also receive a meal. The meals follow the American Dietetic Association guidelines of three ounces of meat, fruit, vegetable, bread, a starch and milk. On Thursdays, volunteers also deliver frozen meals that can be reheated over the weekend.

Active Generations packages between 400 and 500 meals a day with another 100 to 200 meals served at the center on 49^th Street. Those numbers likely will increase next year when a second Active Generations opens in the Dawley Farms area, said Wendy McDonnel, the center’s development director.

Volunteers pick up the meals between 10:30 and 10:45 a.m. at either Active Generations or First United Methodist Church at 12^th Street and Spring Avenue. It takes about an hour to deliver to the 15 to 18 people on a route.

Volunteers serve as more than a source of nutrition, Behnke said.

“For some of our clients, these are the only people they see all day,” she said. “Our clients wait as much to see who is delivering it and talk to that individual as they do for the meal. And once someone goes on a route, we try to keep them on that route to develop a relationship.”

Part of the Sioux Falls Police Department’s mission is partnering with the community in various ways, Speckmier said. “Service to the community is engrained in everything we do.”

New recruits, who generally will be in training for the next 10 to 11 months, welcome the chance to see community needs first-hand, she said.  “Whatever organization they’re volunteering with, they get to see those in need and are able to fulfill a need.”

To volunteer with Meals on Wheels, call 605-333-3305.