On June 8th, the 2022 Rose Festival Court joined Store to Door to volunteer grocery shop for homebound clients across the Portland area! Big thanks to the court for their energetic service in service of those in need in our community!
Store to Door Welcomes New Development Director Tara Koch
Incoming Development Director Tara Koch joins the Store to Door team this month. Ms. Koch brings over 30 years of accounting and financial management, as well as marketing and fundraising experience. Before joining the Store to Door team, Ms. Koch was the Executive Director for a community-based non-profit for 13 years serving underserved populations.
Ms. Koch also brings non-profit management, strategic program building with a focus on trauma informed culturally responsive equitable access to services.
Ms. Koch has a certification in Mental Health Adult First Aid, in addition to completed course work with the Sanctuary Model of Trauma Informed Practices as well as Diversity and Inclusion in Practice from eCornell. She has also provided leadership to state coalitions and alliance affiliations on state policy and legislative issues related to some of the most vulnerable populations in Oregon.
We look forward to leveraging Ms. Koch’s considerable skillset and experience in support of our homebound clients. Please help us welcome her to the Store to Door team!
Store to Door’s 2021 Impact Report
We are pleased to share with you our 2021 Impact Report. Our success is shared between all the wonderful members of our community who have contributed to our work sustaining independence for our homebound clients.
Thanks to your engagement, we are happy to report that we exceeded our projected number of grocery deliveries last year, deepened our social connection with clients through our friendly caller program, and relaunched a free food box delivery program for our lowest-income clients. By the end of 2022, we will be delivering over 100 food boxes each month.
Our program’s success through the entire COVID pandemic would not be possible without you. Thank you!
Volunteer Spotlight: Dawn Wheeler
This month, we caught up with Dawn Wheeler, who has been volunteering as a Friendly Caller since May of 2021. Big thanks to Dawn for her ongoing commitment to supporting our homebound clients each and every Friday!
Q: How did you first get involved with Store to Door?
A: With everything closed down during the pandemic, my normal volunteering in the schools was not possible. So I was on the lookout for other opportunities when I read a coworker’s story about Store to Door. With me living in Roseburg, the Friendly Caller Program was a perfect fit.
Q: What keeps you busy when you are not volunteering with Store to Door?
A: My husband and I stay busy attending our kids’ collegiate soccer games, being available to help my kids with all things in life, and I love scrapbooking all of our family memories.
Q: What is something that your fellow volunteers would be surprised to know about you?
A: I am a mother of 4 that are all in college. Two girls (Allison in graduate school at the University of New Mexico & Emily at Western Oregon) and two boys. Our boys are both exchange students who lived with us during their senior year of high school. Jorge, from Spain, and Fernando, from Brazil. Fernando is back in the USA attending college. The youngest two kids are collegiate soccer players (Emily, goalkeeper at Western Oregon University and Fernando at Willamette University).
Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering with Store to Door?
A: You may start by thinking of volunteering as a way to give back and help others, but you will quickly learn that you get just as much, if not more, from it. The Store to Door clients will quickly become your friends and you will look forward to your weekly chats.
Volunteer Spotlight: Winston Wheeler
This month, we had a chance to catch up with Winston Wheeler, who has volunteered regularly at our Hollywood location as a shopper, belt loader, and runner since connecting with our program in 2021! Big thanks to Winston for his ongoing commitment to supporting our homebound clients!
Q: How did you first get involved with S2D?
A: I was looking for a volunteer opportunity last summer and came across Store to Door on a volunteer opportunity website. I had recently returned from staying with my folks and helping care for my dad who had developed Alzheimer’s. We relied on Instacart for grocery delivery and felt very grateful for the service they provided. When I saw that Store to Door provides the same service with [a small] delivery charge, I signed up right away!
Q: What keeps you busy when you are not volunteering with Store to Door?
A: I also volunteer at the library three days a week, shelving books, processing holds, packing boxes for delivery, and other related tasks. I share a home with my wife, and two cats, one of whom is trying out sleeping in my lap for the first time as I write this.
Q: What is something that your fellow volunteers would be surprised to know about you?
A: Once, on a backpacking trip, as I was taking a break, I turned around to see a bear a few feet off, coming toward me. I knew I had just a few moments to respond before the bear overtook me and would have access to my pack and all my food. I instantly began making as much noise as I could, yelling and jumping up and down, and throwing pine cones at the bear’s feet. Happily enough, the bear decided to turn around and head in the other direction, but my noise-making continued until I was satisfied it would not return and my adrenaline rush had subsided sufficiently.
Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering with Store to Door?
A: Store to Door folks are among the friendliest, most supportive folks I know! Whether I am grocery shopping, belt loading or running for a substitution (all enjoyable tasks, by the way), everyone is always very appreciative of my contribution. Pair this with Store to Door’s mission of providing grocery order-taking, shopping and delivery for homebound seniors and people with disabilities, and you have a great volunteer opportunity!
Volunteer Spotlight: Traci Wheeler
This month, we had a chance to check in with Traci Wheeler, who has been volunteering as a Delivery Driver in Beaverton since 2021, and who had been a part of the Store to Door community for several years before that.
Traci also played a key role in our 2021 partnership with Madeleine Parish to help connect homebound clients with vaccine information and appointments. We are grateful for all the work that she has done in support of our mission!
Q: Are you a dog or cat person?
A: I am a full-on animal person. Cats, dogs, love them all. We have had many furry friends over the years. Currently, we have two cats, four chickens, a leopard gecko, and a horse.
Q: What keeps you busy when you are not volunteering with Store to Door?
A: We recently became empty-nesters with both of our children off to college. This has given me a lot of newfound free time which allowed me to begin volunteering for Store to Door. Additionally, at the onset of the pandemic, I was challenged to begin walking 100 miles per month and have now been successfully accomplishing that for the past 21 months. This led to a newfound love of hiking and exploring the many beautiful natural areas in our state and throughout the northwest.
Q: What is something that your fellow volunteers would be surprised to know about you?
A: Because I know very few other volunteers they would probably be surprised by nearly all things about me, but one thing that would certainly surprise those that know me is that last May I completed the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike in one day. It is 27.2 miles, with a 7000 foot descent down the north rim and then 5000 foot ascent up Bright Angel Trail on the south rim. The entire adventure took us 14.5 hours. It was hands down one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I’ve done and has since empowered me to complete several other epic hikes.
Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering with Store to Door?
A: Volunteering for Store to Door has been a terrific experience for me. Knowing that I’m providing a beneficial service to several seniors in my community is fulfilling and I personally have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the folks I deliver to. My weekly chats with each of them are a highlight of my week.
Big thanks to Traci for all she does for our homebound clients, and for sharing with us this month!
Front Page Slider
Remembering Helen Bernstein
Helen A. Bernstein
April 3, 1945 – Feb. 17, 2022
Beloved pillar of the Store to Door community Helen Bernstein passed away on February 17th 2022. Serving as our program’s Executive Director for 16 years—from 1996 until January 2013—Helen’s warmth and commitment to the personal side of the work that we do played a formative role in making our program into what it is today.
During Helen’s tenure, Store to Door made more than 111,000 deliveries to homebound clients across the Portland area. Continuing to serve as a Board Member and Volunteer following her retirement, Helen’s legacy is one of lasting impact in the lives of so many clients, volunteers, and staff—and a deep focus on supporting independent living for all members of our community. Helen’s dedication and commitment to helping those in need have had a permanent effect on our program and community culture.
Capturing the spirit of Helen’s compassion, back in 2013, she was quoted as saying, “What warms my heart the most is watching people of all ages, races, religions, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds work harmoniously and respectfully together so that a stranger across town has food for the week. It is difficult to think ill of humanity when you do this sort of work.”
Ours is the work of carrying forward her legacy.
You can read a full obituary for Helen online at OregonLive.
Volunteer Spotlight: John Cushing
This month, we caught up with long-time Store to Door volunteer John Cushing—aka Grandpa John! A fixture on delivery days at our Hollywood location, Grandpa John has been delivering to Store to Door Clients since 2012, and has logged more than 800 hours of service in that time! We are so grateful for the indelible impact that John has had on the Store to Door community, and for the impact he has on clients he delivers to!
Q: How did you first get involved with S2D?
A: I first learned about Store to Door at a Volunteer Expo at Pioneer Square in 2012. I deliver for Store to Door on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. I deliver food boxes from the Open Bible Church food pantry to people in Gresham and Troutdale; this program is also run by Store to Door. On Mondays, I volunteer at Oregon Humane Society.
Q: What keeps you busy when you are not volunteering with Store to Door?
A: I play music with a small group of people and I am also currently rehearsing with the Portland Megaband for a concert in March. I read books and play chess and Yahtzee on the Internet. On Thursdays, my grandchildren come to visit and we have dinner together.
Q: Any favorite dish you made or local favorite restaurants you got delivery from during the pandemic?
A: We order Thai food from Thai Seasons every now and then.
Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering with Store to Door?
A: I would tell someone who is thinking of Volunteering with Store to Door that it is an excellent opportunity to develop a sense of gratitude, as well as a connection to other people. It reinforces the concept that everyone can be of service in some way.
Thank you Grandpa John!
Volunteer Spotlight: Dana Taylor
This month, we had the chance to catch up with Store to Door Volunteer Dana Taylor! Since connecting with our program in April of 2021, Dana has stepped up to support our homebound clients in multiple roles, including volunteer shopping at both stores as well as calling clients as a volunteer order taker.
Q: How did you first get involved with Store to Door?
A: In the spring of 2021, I was looking for a new opportunity to support the community and safely connect with new people. Food and nourishment are two of my greatest passions and I love to grocery shop, so Store to Door’s mission and vision seemed like a great fit.
Q: What keeps you busy when you are not volunteering with Store to Door?
A: I am currently a nutrition student at the University of Alabama (via distance learning), studying to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. My interests include community nutrition, culinary nutrition, food as medicine, and overall well-being. Outside of my studies, I enjoy spending time in the kitchen fitting as many vegetables as possible in my favorite comfort foods, baking, reading about health, and yoga. I am a long-time volunteer with the Oregon Farmers Markets Association (OFMA) which supports farmers’ markets and fresh food affordability across the state.
Q: What is something that your fellow volunteers would be surprised to know about you?
A: A more fun tidbit is that I have a longtime love of movies and entertainment culture. I grew up in a family where movies played a big role in our quality time together, and I still love getting lost in a great story.
Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering with Store to Door?
A: What makes Store to Door truly unique is its people. Every single person I have met and worked with is exceptionally kind, friendly, helpful, and dedicated. Becoming a volunteer in the pandemic has its unique challenges, but the team has made this such a rewarding opportunity.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 19
- Next Page »