As I write this “Presidents message” for our website, I realize that this time next year a new president will have taken over and I will once again be “just” a VICaP volunteer. (Our bylaws limit the president’s term to 3 years.)  I will step down and concentrate on volunteering which is truly who we are. There would be no VICaP without our volunteers. We could not accomplish our mission without our volunteers.

Every day our volunteers serve our Neighbors. They do an outstanding service to those in our community who need VICaP services. They help our Neighbors maintain their quality of life by providing access to medical services and food. The dependability, professionalism, and dedication displayed by our volunteers are exemplary. They have my deepest thanks.

Our service to our Neighbors is made possible thanks to our volunteers, but there are others who contribute so much; our office staff; our board of directors and officers; our grants (awarded through the very hard work of our Executive Director, Debi Godwin, and others); and finally, and importantly, the generous donations made by our Neighbors, and so many other churches, faith groups, service clubs and other caring members of the communities we serve.

Let me recap VICaP’s accomplishments of 2017: We began service in Wilcox with the wheel chair accessible van that came our way from ADOT through SEAGO. This van is driven by our two paid drivers Rick and Jerry, one full time and one part time. Used primarily to support Willcox, as we are the only public transportation provider in the Willcox area, we also bring this vehicle down to the southern part of our very large county to transport wheelchair-bound Neighbors to medical appointments as often as is feasible. We added another vehicle to improve our Willcox support midyear which was donated by a friend of Debi Godwin’s from her church congregation. It has been used virtually every day since arriving in Wilcox. VICaP statistics of rides given, miles driven and hours donated continue to increase. 2017 stats were up nearly 25% over 2016. There is no question that we will continue to grow in 2018. Luckily, we have been blessed with new energetic volunteers and now have over 116 volunteers on the ready to help our 800-strong list of neighbors county wide.

We are looking into more grants that might enable us to purchase a wheelchair accessible minivan to use in Sierra Vista and southern Cochise County. This would enable us to significantly improve access to services to the Neighbors in this part of the county who are wheelchair-bound.

Our office staff comprised of Debi Godwin, executive director, Mary Means book keeper, and Kim Burks, executive assistant work wonders everyday filling virtually every request for transportation and other activities that come VICaP’s way. These exceptional ladies are assisted by our volunteer chaplain, Lynell Scott. She helps in many ways but concentrates on calling, visiting and writing our neighbors that are alone or in area hospitals or nursing homes.

Finally, our efforts at Christmas time were very successful. We teamed with the Salvation Army and delivered a Christmas gift bag to over 80 of our Neighbors who live alone. The gift bags included a sweater or hoody that was the right size and of excellent quality. Many tears of thanks were shed by the recipients and we were just happy we could make their Christmas a little more special. It is that kind of thing that makes volunteering with VICaP something special.

I truly enjoy serving you all and being the VICaP president. Thanks again to all who help VICaP perform its most important mission,

George Castle

VICaP President