Volunteers give quite a lift to those in need

If you can drive, you can help, too

Elderly Cary resident Carol Jean Hersch needed a lift to a dentist's office this week.

Fellow Caryite Lloyd Johnson needed something useful to do.

A Wake County charity got them together, as it has for hundreds of volunteer caregivers and needy folks for the past 15 years.

"It's something that's really needed in the community, and I can do it," said Johnson, a retired data-processing manager for the U.S. Customs Service. He drove Hersch to her appointment, and then home again, as he has done for hundreds of people during the past six or seven years.

"All of them are very appreciative -- that's half the fun of it," Johnson said. "It's really a worthwhile thing."

It can be for you, too.

The Center for Volunteer Caregiving needs more volunteers, especially daytime drivers and respite caregivers, who provide breaks to relatives tending to Alzheimer's disease sufferers.

The group's mission is to provide volunteer support to elderly and disabled Wake County adults to help them maintain independence, dignity and quality of life. There are no income requirements, and all its services are free.

The nonprofit interfaith organization, which is based in Cary but serves all of Wake County, especially needs volunteer drivers in Southeast Raleigh, eastern Wake, and southern Wake.

"We would like to be able to serve more people in outlying areas who don't have good access," said Lynn Templeton, the organization's executive director.

The group's volunteers don't just pick clients up and drop them off, they walk them "door through door," often waiting inside the doctor's office or helping in the store until the client is ready to return home. This can take several hours, and some patience. Drivers aren't paid anything.

"It's a big time commitment, and a 100 percent donation of their time, car use and gas consumption," said Dorothy Tom, the group's transportation coordinator. "It's great for people who are retired or self-employed or have enough flexibility to take a day or two off a month."

Johnson said he drives someone in need once a week. He reads or gets coffee while waiting.

Johnson drives his grateful passengers in style in his silver 2002 Lincoln Continental.

"You know you're doing something good," he said. "You can see it in their expressions."

Smiles, mostly.

Hersch lauded the service after Johnson drove her Tuesday.

"I can't praise it enough," she said. "The center is so valuable. It is always there when I need it."