Volunteer Spotlight: Dawn Trimble

This month, we chatted with longtime shopper and checker Dawn Trimble! A regular volunteer at our Hollywood Fred Meyer shopping location, Dawn has given more than 470 hours since connecting with Store to Door in 2017—and who knew that we had a movie star in our midst!

Q: How did you first get involved with Store to Door?

A: A friend of mine volunteered with Store to Door and told me how much she enjoyed her weekly shopping shift. At the time I was still working so I mentally filed the information away. After I retired, I was looking for something to get me out of the house that could be helpful in the community. I checked out Store to Door’s website and signed up for an introductory shopping shift. I’ve been volunteering nearly every week since.

Q: What keeps you busy when you are not volunteering with Store to Door?

A: My husband and I have three grandsons here in Portland and we see them as often as we can. Pre-Covid we were volunteers with the SMART reading program at Creston Elementary School. We hope to get back to that soon. We also enjoy staying physically active. Covid has curtailed some of our activities, but we still get out for an hour walk everyday, rain or shine! I’m a big reader and always have at least one book going.

Q: What is something that your fellow volunteers would be surprised to know about you?

A: I appeared in a locally filmed movie as a prop! My niece was a producer on the film, and they needed someone to appear in a photo as the mother of the lead male actor (Chris Klein) for a law school graduation picture. Even though I was just a prop for the opening scene, I was given a listing in the credits.

Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering with Store to Door?

A: DO IT!! It is an incredibly easy and satisfying way to help members of our community maintain their independence and connection to the wider world. Most of us shop routinely, so it’s not a difficult task to take on. It even turns into a bit of a scavenger hunt at times. If you don’t like to shop, there are several other ways to participate. As volunteers, we also get to meet others who share the desire to help. It’s important to give where we can.

Volunteer Spotlight – Joni Matthews

This month, we are excited to highlight Store to Door Volunteer Joni Matthews. Since connecting with Store to Door in 2021, Joni has given nearly 250 hours of volunteer time as a Friendly Caller and Order Taker!

Q. How did you first connect with Store to Door?
A. I first got involved with Store to Door from a very good friend of mine, Carolyn. She told me it would be one day a week making calls for about 2 hours. Now I’m volunteering 2 days a week order taking and [volunteering as] a friendly caller on Friday.

Q: What do you like to do when you are not volunteering?
A: When I’m not volunteering I make crafts for my little business, travel and most of all visiting with my 6 month old grandson, Luke.

Q: What would your fellow volunteers be surprised to learn about you?
A: I think my fellow volunteers would be surprised to know that on my bucket list I plan on skydiving. I’ve already ziplined and it was amazing. My wheelchair is just my legs, not a roadblock.

Q: How would you describe Store to Door to someone who hasn’t heard of us?
A: If someone was thinking about volunteering with S2D, I would tell them that it will be a very fulfilling opportunity for them to get to know the older community, those who are homebound & you can do it from home. I remember one time a client called me “honey” and my heart just melted.

Thank you to Joni for taking the time to chat with us, and for all that she does for our homebound clients!

Affirmation and Compassion – Shelley’s Story

“What Store to door has added is another way of connecting the community,” Shelley, volunteer friendly caller and shopper, expresses. “That’s all it is. You step up, say yes, I can do that … So, all of your delivery drivers, your order takers…they’re all vital integral parts of this nonprofit.”

Now is the time to join Shelley in stepping up to support your neighbors who need you. Today is the final day of our campaign—will you commit to a one-time or recurring gift today?

Shelley is a dynamic and highly engaged person, who, like many in our community, has a plethora of hobbies and interests. She plays piano, reads, and spends time working with different organizations to create community. Sitting still is not satisfying for Shelley. “I really value generating community and community response. So it’s not really a hobby, but it is a passion.” As a former Peace Corps volunteer and crew leader for Friends of Trees, Shelley’s passion for connecting people has impacted the Store to Door community directly.

As a friendly caller and shopper, Shelley cultivates community for volunteers and affirms the value and presence of our clients. “Part of what Friday calls are is affirming the presence and that they can be in life of someone at the end of the phone,” Shelly explains. “My life is enriched.” 96% of volunteers reported volunteering enriched their sense of purpose in life. Incorporating service in many aspects of Shelly’s life is how she epitomizes dignity.

“I am part of affirming the community. A community effort, and that if this is a unique organization to a, you know million people in this greater area.”

The need for connection continues to grow. The National Foundation Center estimates only 2% of American institutional philanthropy goes to aging programs. By 2025, local census data predicts at least 3,500 more people in S2D’s service area will be eligible for services.

Now it is your turn! Donate now to our Stories of Strength summer fundraising campaign and start your own story of strength.

Sustaining Stability – Store to Door’s Food Box Program

Our Food Box Program relaunched in November 2021 in partnership with the Portland Open Bible Food Pantry after an 18-month hiatus due to the pandemic. This free program helps fill the gap in food access to our housebound neighbors who benefit most from an extra source of food.

Folks enrolled in this Store to Door program either are recipients of SNAP benefits, are members of Oregon Project Independence, or live at 200% below the federal poverty level. Store to Door clients that are eligible for the free Food Box program receive a free, personalized food box.

Our team caters to client preferences as much as possible. The Food Box team takes allergy needs and special dietary requests into consideration when filling the client’s box with healthy fruits and vegetables, dairy and eggs, meat, canned goods, and an occasional treat.

Like the rest of our programs, the Store to Door Food Box program is made possible by the dedication of our wonderful volunteer community. Support this and other vital Store to Door programs with a contribution to our summer fundraising campaign Stories of Strength today!

Everyday Stewardship – Kurt and Kyle’s Story

Each Wednesday and Thursday, Kyle and Kurt head to Beaverton Fred Meyer at 8:00 A.M. to grocery shop for Store to Door’s homebound clients. The father-son power duo team up to shop a few orders, before Kyle splits off and takes over belt-loading duties. Experienced volunteers at this point, ‘the dream team’ are a fixture in the store on shopping days, and a key part of Store to Door’s operation at the Beaverton store.

Kurt cooks regularly and knows his way around a grocery store. So, when he retired a few months ago, coming across Store to Door on the Beaverton volunteer site, there was natural connection. While enjoying the slower pace and mental break from years doing remote computer work, volunteering poses an opportunity for Kurt and Kyle to get out of the house, and to connect both with each other and with other volunteers.

For Kyle, belt loading at Fred Meyer has become a part of his routine he looks forward to. One of their favorite parts of belt loading is getting a glimpse into the clients’ lives through their orders. While Kurt is a regular grocery shopper, he notes that “it’s a different game,” shopping for client’s orders versus for his own family. For instance, a client may order “a Jell-o butterscotch pudding, but it can’t be sugar free.. and it has to be instant…” so it turns into a scavenger hunt. Kyle likes seeing all the different types of options too; he shared that one client had ordered nearly 15 types of Lean Cuisines!

We all have different food preferences and dietary needs. Being able to get exactly the type of Jell-O, fresh produce or even Lean Cuisine that appeals to you is something that many take for granted. It makes a difference to be able to have the agency to choose food that you enjoy and that and nourishes your needs.

“We’re serving a group of people who can’t necessarily get out and do the things that they need to do to take care of [themselves],” Kurt says about the pair’s weekly volunteer work. Filling that gap makes Kyle “feel appreciated” when he “improves the community, see[s] smiles, and can make people feel happy more.”

Store to Door’s program work is made possible by the support of individual donors. Donate now to keep our essential services running and help sustain our housebound community!

A Note from Our Executive Director

Thanks to all those who have helped us raise more than $41,000 so far to sustain homebound seniors and adults living with disabilities across Portland. If you have not yet had a chance to give, will you consider making a contribution to support our homebound clients today?

A couple of our favorite stories so far:

Store to Door’s Nourishing Circle

Become a monthly donor to Store to Door to become a part of our Nourishing Circle; our wonderful community of regular donors who sustain our program with long-term, predictable support. Visit Give.StoretoDoorofOregon.org to sign up for monthly giving today!

Store to Door has been bringing together different generations of neighbors in the Portland Metro area since 1989 with a shared goal: taking care of one another. The program started small, a few folks shopping for neighbors that were not able to do their own grocery shopping.

In the 33 years since Store to Door’s founding, our community has grown in service area, number of neighbors served, and in the scope of needs being fulfilled by the Store to Door Community.

Our housebound neighbors often live on tighter budgets, making it a stretch to cover food costs over the month. So, Store to Door partnered with a food pantry to give free customizable food boxes to those most in need.

Like all of us, our homebound neighbors have experienced heightened social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, Store to Door created our Friendly Caller Program- connecting and cultivating more relationships and care. Additionally, there are more homebound members of our community in need than ever before. So, we have increased our service to deliver 40% more grocery deliveries in the past 3 years.

The Store to Door community is there for our aging neighbors, for our aging parents, for our grandparents.

We need you. Individual donors are integral to caring for each othertaking care of our clients. We need your help to plan ahead to take care of each other. Relying on annual campaigns to meet our budgetary needs is challenging and can be unpredictable.

Meet our Nourishing Circle. This group of donors contribute what they can every month. Our monthly recurring donors are our rocks- ensuring that we will always be able to provide nourishment, connection, and dignity to our housebound community. Becoming a Nourishing Circle member is easy and has a lasting impact.

Lynn Geis, Nourishing Circle member, shares our values. “I have supported Store to Door since, gosh, 2006 at least! About two years ago, I became a Nourishing Circle member to stay connected and contribute year-round by donating to [Store to Door’s] mission on a monthly basis. It feels so good to know that all of us who give monthly, even what I think is a small amount, make a difference and help Store to Door thrive!”

Join our Nourishing Circle today to commit to caring and help us sustain our work.

Long Distance Links – Bev’s Story

The challenges of Covid-19 were multi-faceted. In addition to physical constraints, the pandemic brought social hindrances as well. We all felt more isolated, but folks that are housebound experienced heightened social isolation.

The NCOA estimates that more than 1/5 of adults in the United States identify as lonely, isolated or both. Social isolation is an invisible threat- some research indicates that loneliness can increase the risk of mortality by 50%.

The isolation we shared posed an opportunity for Store to Door to act as an intermediary to foster community and bring people together. Community-minded folk like Bev got involved with volunteering with Store to Door for the first time.

Bev got involved with Store to Door during the first autumn of the pandemic- September of 2020. She was already working remotely for her company, Umpqua Bank, which encourages employees to volunteer. The newly launched Friendly Caller Program aligned perfectly for Bev, who at the time was experiencing her own family health challenges with her aging mother.

Bev began talking with clients on a weekly basis, calling and building relationships with them as she commuted to and from California to care for her own mother. She reflects on that time, sharing that “a lot of the folks I spoke to [were a] similar age. You get very connected.”

Connection, one of Store to Door’s key values, is an integral part of combatting the social isolation both clients and volunteers have experienced during the pandemic. Families and friendships have been strained due to shutdowns and social distancing. It has become harder for folks to have all their needs met.

“During Covid, I don’t think families intended to not pay attention to family members […] [we] forget how old [our parents] are, and that they need more help. They’re not going to always tell you what they need, ‘cause they don’t want to interrupt your life […] but they’re really lonesome,” Bev says.

Bev finds the Friendly Caller program to be a remedy: “I’ve had one or two [clients] out the door who were just friendly, like I was her best friend … but I’ve had a few […] that are very hesitant … but then you end up connecting … gardening or music, you can always find a connection ... and then you just get really, really close with some of them.”

For Bev, it goes back to relationships and family. She continues to volunteer, because the clients have “become like a family. We share different stories back and forth, how we’re doing check-in different things..” When Bev was going back and forth for her mother’s care, the clients reciprocated the care. During her calls, she expressed that “many were so concerned …they knew of my mom.”

According to a survey conducted by AARP, nearly 40% of adults have a close friend at least 15 years older or younger than them. Bev finds that the relationships she’s established through the Friendly Caller Program parallel the relationships she values with her own family.

Bev says the Friendly Caller Program fosters intergenerational connection. “I just always felt everybody needs somebody. A lot of these folks would become either another grandmother or a foster mother, foster father, mother, brother, uncle… is kind of how I look at it.”

Despite the restrictions of the pandemic easing, social isolation is still a chronic issue for our housebound community. According to the Portland State Institute on Aging, people aged 65+ are the most rapidly growing segment of Portland’s population. The Friendly Caller Program continues to connect Portland metro’s housebound community with caring volunteers-turned companions. This program has been immensely rewarding for both clients and volunteers. 95% of Store to Door clients say they feel more socially connected as a result of our services.

You can help mitigate social isolation by donating to our Stories of Strength Summer Fundraising Campaign or by becoming a Friendly Caller like Bev. Visit our website now to supply life-saving services, or click below to give today!

Remote Connections – Dawn’s Story

Store to Door Volunteer Dawn first connected with our program after a fellow Umpqua Bank employee posted about volunteering as a Friendly Caller in a company chat channel. After following up for more information, Dawn joined our Friendly Caller program—and she continues calling many of the same clients from her initial list!

Dawn, like many of our volunteers, has come to deeply value the connections she has built with the client she serves, particularly during the increased isolation we have all felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I feel a strong connection with the friendly caller program because that’s what I do, but it’s where we’re able to help others navigate through all of this who have nobody else to come back home,” Dawn says. “Those kinds of things, I think, transcend the traditional volunteering because we really are helping them wherever where we are, and that’s what’s great.

Umpqua Bank, like many of our other corporate partners, supports employee philanthropic efforts with both a matching gift program and paid volunteer time each year. The flexibility and remote nature of her Store to Door volunteer work were a perfect fit early on for Dawn, who makes her regular calls each Friday as she works from home.

Store to Door’s work supporting independent living for homebound members of our community would not be possible without the partnership of volunteers like Dawn. We are deeply grateful for her commitment to sustaining the clients she serves—and to Umpqua bank for supporting employees like Dawn in their philanthropic efforts!

We hope you will join Dawn in supporting homebound members of our community with a gift to our Stories of Strength campaign today!

Ripples of Impact – Chris and Layla’s Story

The Store to Door community epitomizes our values of nourishment, connection, and dignity.

U.S. Bank and other partner organizations are integral to Store to Door’s program success. Many of our most involved volunteers and supporters first connect with our organization through the encouragement and referral of their employer.

Chris, father and U.S. Bank employee, attributes beginning his involvement with Store to Door to U.S. Bank. “The company actually is very encouraging of getting people to get involved. They actually pay for us to go and volunteer up to 16 hours a year to volunteer with any organization that that we want to connect with,” he explained. “So, you kind of dip your toe in, you know like hey, this was fun! This felt good! I liked this. And by the time you get to those 16 hours, you’re kind of starting to get involved in a way where…well I might as well keep doing this a little bit more.”

70% of corporate volunteers believe volunteerism boosts morale more than company mixers, according to a 2017 Deloitte Volunteer Impact Research survey.

Chris’s experience volunteer shopping at the Beaverton store supports this figure. “My team of people I work with at U.S. bank […] set an early goal on how many hours we want to volunteer for the year. We’ve already met that goal for our entire year…well, let’s keep going! Let’s double the goal!” Since then, Chris has enthusiastically brought more of his teammates into the fun.

Many volunteers report how easy Store to Door’s programs are to jump into. Coupled with the team building and ease of the program, Chris underscores the impact of volunteering outside of his team. Since he began volunteering with Store to Door years ago, Chris had a daughter, Layla, who at age 10 now joins Chris with shopping for clients. Layla is already incredibly active in volunteering in her community, from picking up trash around her neighborhood, to shopping for Store to Door’s housebound clients.

Chris acknowledges that shopping is “very easy for us and we enjoy it, but someone else might not have that luxury and I think that’s where it’s impactful. To make sure that that’s always in the back of our mind that this is this is serving somebody else, and those acts of service feel good.” For Layla, it’s “that spirit of service,” that her dad says is “taking hold and it’s just something that is a part of who she is.” Volunteering is how Layla and Chris embody dignity, empowered by U.S. Bank.

In addition to giving a financial incentive to their employees like Chris to volunteer, U.S. Bank also broadly encourages other types of philanthropic involvement. U.S. Bank, offers a matching gift program, like 9/10 companies nationwide according to Nonprofitsource.com. This means that when Chris or one of their employees donates to Store to Door, the company will contribute the same amount, effectively doubling the impact.

To make an even larger impact, U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management has committed to matching the next $1,500 raised during our campaign this week!

You can keep our volunteer program running by donating to our Stories of Strength fundraising campaign today—and don’t forget to use the tool on our donation form to check if your employer will match your gift! Your support is urgently needed- and your impact may ripple out to your colleagues, friends, parents, even your employer!