CCKC Tallahassee

Thanks to Lt. Allan Morris & Sgt. Stephen Stabley, City of Tallahassee Police Department for coming to speak at our weekly meeting on Monday!

Lt. Morris oversees several units, one of which is TPD's Community Relations Unit - 3 officers and Sgt. Stabley, tasked with relations for Tallahassee’s 247 neighborhoods. What gets overlooked in this unit is officers who are certified Crime Prevention Practitioners. They take 120 hours over 3 classes from the Attorney General’s office and are experts in crime prevention, both residential and corporate. They offer a free service where they come to your home or business and make recommendations to make your home or business a harder target against crime. For example, one tip is to replace the typically decorative screws that are used for your door hinges with 3” screws installed at an angle. This simple step could give you more time to respond to someone trying to break down your door.

What else can you do? Lighting is the #1 thing. If it looks like someone is taking care of the house, it is less likely to be broken into. LED lights are recommended, which allows color to be seen and helps with descriptions of people, such as shirt or car color. For shrubs and tree branches, nothing higher than 2 feet or lower than 6 feet. This allows people to be visible.

The Community Relations Unit also installs child car seats. Children are our most valuable commodity in society. This is more than just putting a car seat in. The officers take a 40-hour course to be certified.

14 new officers are currently in in-house training at TPD after graduating from the Law Enforcement Academy. The academy teaches cadets to be law enforcement officers, but these new officers are in a 2 month-long training program to learn how things are done at TPD. Citizens here are unique, so TPD tries to give you a better work product.

Other things to know about TPD police response. Patrol calls are triaged when called in, based on the severity of the event or crime. This may impact response times. All calls are important and matter, but if a crime is actively occurring, it may take precedence over another call. Customer Service Technicians are able to respond to non-violent, non-criminal calls. This greatly frees up patrol officers, freeing them up from a stalled vehicle call to respond to other calls. The TEAM Unit allows mental health counselors from the Apalachee Center, with the help of police officers (out of full police uniform) and a paramedic/EMT, to respond to mental health crisis calls.

Both Lt. Morris and Sgt. Stabley highly recommend the Citizens Police Academy. This is a 9-week, free program that has something different each week for 3 hours. Attendees receive information and instruction on use of force, defensive tactics, special operations, criminal investigations, crime lab and evidence gathering techniques, demonstrations by the TAC Team and K-9 Unit, and a chance to ride along with an officer. For more information, go to https://www.talgov.com/publicsafety/tpd-citizens .

Thanks to The Florida Kiwanis Foundation for a mini grant to support Kids Incorporated of the Big Bend to purchase playground equipment For Brandon's Place at Lincoln - a local Early Head Start center! Division 3 Trustee Kim Mills (second from left) came to our weekly meeting yesterday for the official presentation to Kids Incorporated CEO LaFonda Heidel (second from right), pictured here with club members Fred Williams and Howard Pardue.

Fundraiser #2 of the day under way at the Beer Garden at Tom Brown park’s Celebrate America!

On June 29th, we picked up trash on our route on Richview Road!

July 4th is our biggest fundraising day of the year – Firecracker 5K and Celebrate America Beer Garden. This is the 41st year for the Firecracker 5K, which started in 1983 with the Greensboro Kiwanis Club. They put the runners on a school bus, gave them McDonald’s biscuits, drove them 3 miles out of town on Highway 12, then they ran back into town. This started a family-friendly and town cookout and festival to celebrate the 4th of July, ending with fireworks after dark. They were looking for another Kiwanis club to take up the race, and CCKC took it on in 2013. That first year, the race was run as a trail run in Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park on Meridian Road, and a deluge made the race fun/disastrous for runners the next day (depending on your perspective). The race moved to the newly-opened Cascades Park in 2014 and has been there ever since. CCKC brought on the Virtual Kiwanis Club of the Big Bend (VKBB) in 2017 as a partner.

The funds raised by the Firecracker 5K help support Service Leadership Programs for each club. K-Kids at Ruediger Elementary, Builders Club at Fairview Middle School, and Key Clubs at Lincoln and Rickards High Schools for CCKC, a future Builders Club at Ft. Braden and Key Club at Godby High School for VKBB. Each club also supports the SportsAbility Alliance’s Miracle Sports program, offering sports activities for people of all ages and abilities at a special, rubberized field at Messer Park North, as well as Southern Scholarship Foundation’s 2 Kiwanis houses at FSU and FAMU through joint fundraisers and service projects.

The Firecracker 5K would not be possible without the help of sponsors, and we are proud of our title sponsor, Envision Credit Union, as well as our variety of sponsors, ranging from members to companies large and small, that help defray costs and help us run a profitable race so we can support children in our community. Here are our sponsors from the 2023 Firecracker 5K:
https://raceroster.com/events/2023/71728/firecracker-5k-and-1-mile-fun-run-2023/page/digital-runners-bags
Some of our sponsors will also host packet pickups for runners to pick up bibs and t-shirts: Fleet Feet (1845 Thomasville Road, #125) on June 29th from 1:00-4:00 PM, 4th Quarter Bar & Grille (2033 North Monroe Street) on June 30th from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM, and Jeremiah’s Italian Ice (1400 Village Square Blvd., #32) on July 1st from 4:00-7:30 PM.

Volunteers will come from our sponsored Key Clubs, CCKC and VKBB members, as well as College H.U.N.K.S., who will help load, unload, and re-load race supplies from our storage unit to Cascades Park. We will arrive at 4:00 AM to unload and set-up all the race supplies, with another set of volunteers arriving at 6:00 AM. Registration opens at 6:30, the Sparkler 1 Mile is at 7:30, the Firecracker 5K is at 8:00 AM. After the awards are presented, we will be out of the park by 10:30 AM. Volunteers will help set-up and break down supplies and tents; staff water stations, hospitality tent, and registration tent, but will also be on hand for the many family-friendly activities we have planned – face and hair painting, popcorn, sno-cones, and craft activities.

The race has had many mottos over the years, beginning in 2019, which make their way to the popular t-shirts sold each year to runners. I started my July 4th with a bang! (2019); I didn’t run the Kiwanis Firecracker 5K. Nobody won so everybody won (2020 – COVID); I ran the hottest race in Tallahassee (2021); So hot I almost dyed (2022 – tie-dyed red, white and blue); I won the race but no one could see me (2023 – camouflage); and Stars & Stripes Forever (2024 – stars on one sleeve, stripes on one sleeve).

To sign up for the 2024 Firecracker 5K, go to https://raceroster.com/events/2024/85421/firecracker-5k-and-1-mile-fun-run-2024 and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CCKCFirecracker5k.

The second part of CCKC’s long day of fundraising is the annual Celebrate America Beer Garden at Tom Brown Park. Many years ago, the City of Tallahassee was looking for a partner to host a beer garden for the public, and CCKC stepped up. Thirsty park goers will have many brews and seltzers from Tri Eagle Sales to purchase at our location at the top of the hill with the other food vendors. Volunteers will check IDs and band those 21+, take money, and pour beers from 6:00 PM until the fireworks start at dark, all the while being entertained with the wonderful music coming from the stage at the bottom of the hill.

Thanks to Cat Keen of Volunteer Florida for speaking to our club on Monday!

Cat Keen came to Tallahassee for college and stayed. She then worked in non-profits for the unhoused and people in need and has worked at Volunteer Florida for the last 14 years. For Cat, anthropology is her passion, but she went back to school for a master’s in social work to do what she can for the time she has.

What does Volunteer Florida do? Administers AmeriCorps and National Service programs; coordinates volunteers and donations before, during, and after disasters; increases volunteerism through grants, training, and recognitions; and manages the Volunteer Florida Foundation.

The history of National Service began with the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933-1942); then the G.I. Bill (1942-1950); Engaging Americans, creating the Peace Corps (1960-1963); the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, creating Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA); Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, creating the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and Senior Corps Program; National and Community Service Act of 1990, creating Serve America; and the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, creating AmeriCorps and state service commissions like Volunteer Florida.

Each state has an AmeriCorps component, and AmeriCorps members serve domestically for a year, providing tutoring and mentoring, job training and placement, independent living support, conservation and natural resource support, and much more. There are 44 AmeriCorps programs in Florida with 1,790 members serving 34 counties. After their year of service, members get a college scholarship, or repay student loans if they have already attended college, all in preparation for a future career. Cat sees this experience as workforce innovation that is not just one and done but are experiences that shape lives.

The AmeriCorps pledge: “I will get things done for America to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier. I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities. Faced with apathy, I will take action. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond. I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.”

To Cat, what she does is hard and challenging work, but really is making a difference, and she can’t think of anything else she would rather do.

Multiple drop-off points for non-perishable food, household items, or monetary donations to help those affected by the recent EF-2 tornadoes in the Tallahassee area. Please share!

Due to storm damage and no power at Hilaman Golf Course, we are moving our lunch meeting to a social meeting tomorrow night (05/13/24).

Join us at Ology Brewery (2910 Kerry Forest Pkwy, 32309) for a beer and food from 5:30-7:30 PM.

Another storm recovery effort...please share!

TODAY (05.11.24) from 6:00-8:30 pm, in partnership with Convoy of Hope, Generations Church (3080 W Tennessee St. across from Family Dollar) will be having a food and supply distribution for Tallahassee and the surrounding areas.

Please enter at their front entrances along Tennessee St. or Blountstown Hwy. and exit out the back entrance at Bicycle Rd.

Here’s what they will have:

Water
Sports Drinks
Hygiene kits
Tarps
Snack items
Food (Meals Ready to Eat and Non-Perishables)

Please share these Tallahassee-area tornado recovery distribution points...

Food and water:

Opens 8:00 am — Fort Braden Public Library at 16327 Blountstown Hwy, Tallahassee, FL 32310

Opens 9:00 am — J. Lewis Hall Sr. Woodville Park and Recreation Complex at 7575 Old Woodville Hwy, Tallahassee, FL 32305

Opens 10:00 am — Apalachee Regional Park at 7550 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee, FL 32311

Thanks to Stacey Turknett for the info!

Thanks to Warren Cave of the Clean Start Initiative for speaking at our weekly meeting on Monday!

Warren Cave came up poor in a family that focused on Jesus, but his lifestyle took him from that path. Even though he was on the honor roll, in 9th grade, he smoked ma*****na with no limits and drank 8-9 quarts of beer a day. In poor culture, people see selling drugs as the only way to get ahead.

In 1989, Warren got his GED in prison. He has been to prison 3 times, but not again in 33 (soon to be 34) years ago. He was homeless and ate out of trash cans. In 1985, he was homeless, and a friend gave him a Thanksgiving meal when he was sleeping in a park. To him, God sends people to help the less fortunate, and he sees organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary in the same way.

Warren moved to Tallahassee in 2000, and continued the ministry work he started in Miami here. Originally, his Clean Start Initiative served men to get them off drugs and for those released from incarceration, but he soon expanded his mission to men, women, and children. On June 13th, he will have his first fundraising dinner for the Clean Start Initiative to fund networking opportunities to help people get jobs, as well as mentoring opportunities. Warren would give his last dollar to help others, and he joked that this has nearly cost him his marriage. Typically, funds for his program come from his mobile car detailing business – “Bless My Ride”.

Warren noted that you never know how you are helping sow the seed with youth. He has met a lot of people he helps at the shelter or in jail or prison. You will never know the impact of giving. He doesn’t beat people up with scripture when they are on drugs or homeless. He meets them where they are, as Jesus did. He is mentoring 17 youth for the next 6 months. He teaches them “You are the solution” for you being better off and having a better life. “I am the inheritance” and if you live right, your father in heaven will help. He teaches students to be early and comfortable in school, so you can learn better and accumulate knowledge better. He teaches them life skills – “How do we get better every day?” How can we get them to think outside the box? Give them a little nugget of information. The theme of the Clean Start Initiative is “Evidence seen”. From the Bible, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Part of this is continuing to pour into the lives of children with evidence seen and help them see.

You can reach Warren’s “Bless My Ride” mobile car detailing and help support the Clean Start Initiative, at 850-408-0250.

Reading to a class of pre-k and kindergarten students for CCKC Tallahassee’s Tales for Tots program at our service partner and host of our KKids Club.

Thanks to BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse for hosting our monthly social meeting! Malia was a fantastic server!

Thanks to Misty Love, Fair Lending Manager at Capital City Bank, for speaking at our weekly club meeting on Monday!

For Misty Love, “Service is the essence of any community.” She has embraced service from an early age and finds meaning in service projects because they make a difference and have an impact.

For example, she had an on-campus job in high school at the guidance office. One day, the secretary had an emergency, and Misty was left to handle the office for an hour. There was a lady waiting to meet with the guidance counselor, who quietly watched Misty juggle phone calls and interact with students. They discussed service projects she was doing and her college plans, where she was trying to make a decision, but couldn’t afford college visit trips. The next day, she was called to the principal’s office, which had never happened to Misty before. Turns out, the woman waiting to see the guidance counselor was the President of the Bainbridge Rotary Club and was so impressed with Misty’s work that she offered to fund her college visit trips. Misty learned 2 things: It’s always important to be on your best behavior; you never know who is watching AND it’s important to do the right thing.

In her freshman year, Misty founded a Rotaract Club (college service club) at Oglethorpe University, where she was president for 3 years. They funded a clean water project in Guatemala, tutoring and school supplies at a local high school, and started an after-school sports activity in Hyderabad, India, among other projects. The most important part is that they made a difference, not just by the amount of service hours. The club was later awarded a Rotary Presidential Award.

At Capital City Bank, she is responsible for ensuring there is no discrimination in lending and that every customer is treated fairly. Capital City Bank has a long history of financial service but also community service, including Meals on Wheels and Salvation Army. For Misty, Meals on Wheels is the most meaningful project because the recipients always show how appreciative they are.

In Leadership Tallahassee 41, she has learned so much about the community and the community leaders making a positive difference. Her class is involved in service projects outside of the curriculum, like Salvation Army and Beyond the Pantry, a non-profit that sources and shares hygiene and basic-needs products.

Currently, Misty serves on the board of directors of Oasis Center for Woman & Girls, which provides “Girl Circle,” a peer-to-peer outreach program, Girls Can Do Anything summer camp, and during Women’s History Month, the Women’s Trailblazer Program, which focuses on those who have made an impact and blazed trails for others.

We can't wait for this years event! Register today

Registration for the 41st Annual Firecracker 5K & Sparkler Fun Run is now open! Be one of the first to like and share this post to receive a discount code at check out!

https://raceroster.com/events/2024/85421/firecracker-5k-and-1-mile-fun-run-2024

Another Kiwanis project completed at Ruediger!
Leon County Schools

We had a great time making butterflies with the kids today at the Kids Incorporated of the Big Bend Kid Fest!

Another great Friday morning reading to the Pre-k class at Ruediger Elementary School!

Thanks to Dot Inman-Johnson, City Manager of Midway & Author, for speaking at our weekly club meeting yesterday!

As an educator, Dot Inman-Johnson is so glad to hear about all the work our club does with schools and our work with citizens in the community. As part of her presentation, she shared pictures of her with Rose Parks when she was invited to FSU, as well as her re-election to the City Commission.

Her book “Poverty, Politics, and Race in America” covers a lot of what has happened over several decades in poverty. During her time leading the Capital Area Community Action Agency, Dot saw a lot of misinformation across the 8-county Big Bend area that did not match the description of residents. She wrote the book after her retirement and finished it in December 2012. Her husband took on the task of promoting and setting up book signings at events in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Jacksonville.

Her next book was “Lessons from America’s Best and Worst Cities,” and Dot wanted to know what was measured and who rose to the top and who moved to the bottom of those lists. Her research was extraordinary about what came out of it and what could be applied to Tallahassee.

Her most recent book is “Tallahassee’s Black History Firsts,” published about a year ago, with a standing-room-only release event at the LeRoy Collins Library. In this work, Dot documents the contributions made by 60 pioneering Black residents of Tallahassee. It was a wonderful journey in collecting information, researching, and in writing the book about their lives, she learned a lot more about Tallahassee.

Dot created Safe Spaces for Kids, a 501 (c)(3) set up in the Orange Avenue Projects to be near the children and families served there. She saw children as young as 5 wandering around, unsupervised, so an after-school enrichment program and summer school program was created to expose lower-income children to things they don’t get to see.

Dot was one of 14 kids growing up in a low-income neighborhood in Birmingham. While she was in school, there was no one at home she could look to for educational guidance. Luckily, she had 2 teachers who plucked her up. One teacher would send her to the library, and if Dot did not return with books that were good for her, that teacher would already have a book checked out for Dot. Those teachers wanted to be sure that Dot knew that she could be better than what Dot thought her horizons could be. After high school, Dot thought she was going to get a job at a cafeteria to support her family, but 2 of her teachers colluded for her to take the SAT, as she had the highest GPA in her class. Dot ended up with 4 scholarship offers to Dillard, Fisk, Spellman, and Clark (now Clark Atlanta University), which she attended, as it was a full, 4-year scholarship and she had family in Atlanta.

You may not know that Dot was an Art teacher for 28 years, with 19 years at Florida High. She showed the attendees several of her beautiful works.

For her work as an elected official, but also for her community advocacy, among other things, the park in Klemen Plaza was named for Dot Inman-Johnson in 2020. She was Mayor at the time it was planned and built. It was a brownfield and polluted piece of property. A dry-cleaning company was at the site previously, so the EPA and Florida DEP stopped the work and remediation work had to be done. Dot was involved in the negotiations for a resolution to the remediation plan and negotiated a building purchase too. It was supposed to be a public-private partnership, but because of the pollution, no private business wanted to take part. Dot convinced the League of Cities to build their new building on the site, as opposed to building further down on Duval Street.

Dot Inman-Johnson is a candidate for City Commission, Seat 2 in the August 2024 Primary Election.

Thanks to Lauren Helm, President and Consultant, Lauren Helm PR for speaking at our weekly club meeting on Monday!

Lauren Helm has been in public relations for 15 years, working at Capital Health Plan for 10 years, before moving on to an asphalt company, and finally opening her own firm in October 2023, where she gets to pick and choose. She is an Accredited in Public Relations professional and a Certified Public Relations Counselor.

She is most proud of her work to establish permanent food pantries in Leon County Schools. She was motivated to this when she brought pizza to celebrate reading at a local school but was asked by some of the students for a bag so they could take pizza home to their brothers and sisters. She works with her own kids to stuff a neighborhood “help shelf” so she can pass on service to the next generation. The newest permanent food pantry is at Riley Elementary (32304 zip code), which serves over 300 families, although the school has 500 students, so it is pretty much at capacity. The school is also the largest recipient of the summer school backpack program in Leon County. She is currently working with a team to raise $20,000 to sustain the pantry for 5 years and working to turn Riley into a Community Partnership School to bring about more ancillary resources to the school.

The School Market Program, of which there are 17 locations in the Panhandle, is also at Riley and offers free, healthy snacks options for students and family to serve as “brain food” and provide a stable source of food in “food deserts”. This program is offered free of charge from Second Harvest of the Big Bend, but must be located in a secure, lockable area of the school.

Lauren was also involved in creating a Community Engagement Committee in 2012 during her time at Capital Health Plan, with a goal of creating service-oriented initiatives for employees to actively engage within the 7-county service area. From 2012-2022, there were over 1,200 engagement opportunities like food drives, backpack supply drives, disaster clean-up, and bunk bed building events.

On April 16 from 8:00-9:30 AM, Lauren is hosting a “Beyond the Basics: Optimizing LinkedIn through Effective Branding” workshop at the Hotel Duval Opal Room. Register at https://web.talchamber.com/events/Beyondthe%20Basics%20%20Branding%20%20LinkedIn-5624/details

Connect with Lauren Helm: [email protected], 850-545-3461, or www.laurenhelmpr.com.

Thanks to Alice Kerce, CCKC's Incoming President for presenting her goals for the 2024-2025 Kiwanis year!

Alice Kerce’s biggest goal is ensuring good communication to our members. We have good tools in place with text and email updates on service projects and meeting re-cap emails after each meeting. She wants feedback from the membership as to what types of communication is helpful. Sometimes, we end up with 2 text strings, which can be confusing, so we may need to have the President or Secretary send out a message, and limit feedback to be sent only to them, rather than the whole group, to limit confusion. Another idea is to get the meeting re-cap emails sent out as .pdfs to phones and not just via email.

Another goal is continuing to bring in excellent speakers to our weekly meetings. Each week, she knows she is going to learn something new and get something out of the presentation. She wants to continue to have strong speakers and make it an identity for our club. Additionally, she wants to add more interactive events outside of weekly meetings. For example, getting out to hear speakers in their territory and meeting spaces, or even tours, which would allow those who can’t come out on a regular basis to Hilaman Golf Course, but can make time for a special meeting location. Members would have plenty of notice for meeting location changes.

A third goal is assessing and updating our service projects. Alice looked at the list of service projects we have for our Firecracker 5K sponsors and wants to see where our members like to participate so we can engage more members. She wants to ensure our projects remain strong.

Alice also wants to change up our socials, with maybe a different date or time or activity, rather than our traditional last Monday night of the month for dinner. Perhaps make it so the time commitment of a dinner is reduced.

Public relations is also a goal of Alice’s, as we currently promote the club’s work on social media, primarily Facebook, but to also build on this foundation. She wants to do the same for members and our service projects that we currently do for our speakers and highlight them on social media. The big thing on social media is to have soundbites and quick videos, not necessarily to solely bring in new members, but to spotlight what we do as a club and get to know each other better.

With all of her goals, Alice wants to continue doing what we do well and continue our outreach to members too.

We served snacks and drinks to the SportsAbility Alliance Miracle Sports athletes and volunteers on Thursday night. Always a pleasure to help out with one of our service partners on a beautiful Tallahassee evening!
Photo credits: Lisa Heil & Howard Pardue

Thanks to Las Brazas for hosting our monthly social meeting on Monday!

Thanks to Shaye Greenlee, Tax Accountant at Community Business Services, for speaking at our weekly club meeting yesterday!

When people ask her, “What do you do?” Shaye says she teaches entrepreneurs who can’t afford an accountant or consultant, what accounting is and does tax returns for the community. She does not charge to talk or consult, but only if additional services are needed. She is also an Adjunct Instructor at FAMU, owns Beauty Supply Boutique & Prudent Management LLC, and Manager at Al’s Community Business Services.

She shared some of her favorite quotes/motivating thoughts, like “Entrepreneurs are among the wealthiest and most influential members of society because they seek out and develop opportunities that ultimately improve society.” and “Entrepreneurs must be willing understand the terms of which communities need things and be willing to exhaust every strategy to do that.” Her Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs are Vision, Sticking at it, Passion, Uncertainty-tolerant, Self-confidence, Adaptability, Rule breaking, Ability to plan, Involved, and Self-motivated.

Shaye shared with the audience stories about her mentors, Ernest “Sunny” Smith and Al Smith. At Al’s Community Business Services, they have an 8,000 square foot office space, which also has 2 office spaces, where they do tax returns, and food trucks out back in rented spaces. Al’s is a Minority Business Accelerator, which is like an incubator, but available for smaller businesses too.

The North Florida Community Development Corporation, founded in 2022, exists to be a solution-driven organization for the root causes of poverty. It’s flagship initiative is the Impact Feeding Program, which places food machines in early childhood care programs in zip codes with the most need. Families get a card to get free food from a machine, which provides access to fresh food and meal kits, prepared by the Frenchtown Neighborhood Association. The machine is located at Precious Little Royal Angels on Woodville Highway and is open Monday-Friday 7:00 AM-7:00 PM. The program is funded by a grant from the Leon County Children’s Services Council, and she is looking for grants for additional locations for food machines. The machine serves 47 families (roughly 250 people) with deliveries on Wednesday and Friday, and costs $300-$500 a week to stock.

Shaye is pictured with CCKC President Jim Ledbetter.

Meals on Wheels delivery, in partnership with Elder Care Services, Inc.! Each week, CCKC members run the G5 route in west Tallahassee, delivering about a dozen hot meals. Today, the hot meal was spaghetti in meat sauce, with mixed vegetables. The cold box had wheat bread, applesauce, salad, and milk.

Thanks ECS for the opportunity for hands-on service in our community!

Also, thanks to Margaret Lynn Duggar for getting us involved with Meals on Wheels many decades ago!