366 seniors live at or below poverty level in the River Region of Montgomery, AL, putting them at risk to go without healthy meals. These seniors in need are usually provided with Meals on Wheels from the Montgomery Area Council on Aging (MACOA). However last summer, the council realized it simply didn’t have the money and time to be able to handle the demand, and the program came to a grinding halt. It looked like 366 seniors were about to go hungry - until the idea for the United Way Day of Action started taking form.
With a grant from Depend, River Region United Way decided that they would take the responsibility for preparing and delivering meals to the seniors. But they soon ran into a snag - how would they organize the massive amount of volunteers needed to make the event possible? That’s where SignUpGenius came in.
Ann Cooper, the Vice President of Community Impact says, “Thanks to SignUpGenius email blasts and social media, the River Region United Way Community Council and many volunteers associated with our corporate partners heard the clarion call to help with this massive project. We were able to get volunteers signed up easily and keep them organized and informed every step of the way.”
Using SignUpGenius, the organization was able to coordinate 166 volunteers from 20 different corporate partners. Over 4 days, 800 total hours of volunteering, and an estimated $18,700 in salary time, those volunteers were able to package 1,151 meals to deliver to the seniors in need.
On the official United Way Day of Action, the volunteers took vehicles provided by Courthouse Café and the Wind Creek Hospitality Good to Go Food Truck and delivered the meals to those who needed them. The project even helped inspire local residents to get more involved with the cause, “The long-term impact to the community is that MACOA now has more volunteer driver resources who signed up to help with the regular Meals on Wheels delivery program as a result of the Day of Action. It was a win-win for everyone,” says Cooper.
We couldn’t be prouder of the way the River Region community showed up to help those in need! Thanks for using SignUpGenius.
