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www.islandseniors.org

Volunteer Spotlight: Marilou McNew

We are honoring long-time volun- Volunteer Services driver Marilou McNew is retiring after over 20 years
teer driver, Marilou McNew. After of service to Island seniors. Many thanks to Marilou and all the Volunteer
20+ years of service, she has decided Services drivers for their dedication to helping their neighbors.
to retire from providing volunteer
medical transportation. Her heart and would get mad and think we were cut- Big Shoes to Fill
her experience will be irreplaceable. ting in front of them and honk at us.
For the time and support that she’s They might not have understood and With Merilou retiring, Volunteer
given to our community, we give her got angry, but they’d probably rather Services needs volunteer drivers to
an emphatic Thank You, Marilou! be in a line than switch places with the meet the rising demand.
person that I’m helping.
Marilou began driving for medi- Volunteer Services offers the op-
cal transportation in 1996. She has In one word, how would you de- portunity to reach out to neighbors
amassed 1,812 hours of service driv- scribe your experience as a volun- and make it possible for them to ac-
ing 24,404 miles, averaging 1,180 teer medical transportation driver? cess the medical help they require. It
miles per year. Mary Lou previously is a heartwarming experience know-
worked as a Secretary for Seattle Pub- Rewarding. ing that you are a link to their well-
lic Schools and the City of Langley. being. Your help makes it possible for
She is a tremendous gift to many el- Who chooses what’s on the radio? friends in our community to remain
ders on Whidbey Island. independent in their homes for as long
I’ve never had the radio on during a as possible.
You’ve been transporting indi- trip. There’s conversation during most
viduals in our community for over of the ride. Volunteer drivers receive a gas/
20 years. What has been your fa- mileage reimbursement and must
vorite part of it? In one sentence, why should some- pass a background check.
one become a volunteer driver?
The conversations. I really enjoy For more information, contact Pat
the conversations and hearing about It makes you feel good to know Weekley at 360-678-4886 or 360-
how thankful they are for Senior Ser- how appreciative and thankful every- 321-6661.
vices and the Medical Transportation body is.
program.

How did you become a volunteer
driver?

Once I retired, I wanted to get in-
volved and help people. There are a
lot of seniors that move to the island
and find themselves not able to drive
anymore. They’re not able to get to
their medical appointments and need
help.

To what destinations do you pro-
vide transportation?

I used to drive to Seattle quite of-
ten, but the traffic has gotten worse.
I’ve driven to Bellevue, Everett, Ana-
cortes, Mt. Vernon, anywhere they
had their appointment.

Any rides that stand out to you?

There isn’t one that stands out.
Many times if we had to go across
the water we’d get to go to the front
of the line because of the passenger’s
medical condition. Sometimes people

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