California Highway Patrol (CHP) - El Cajon Senior Volunteers - June/July 2020
Senior volunteers love what they do and miss serving their community. Jan Gray, a volunteer with CHP-El Cajon, and Sergeant Mateo, who coordinates volunteers at CHP-El Cajon, agree that the volunteers and officers/staff at the station are a very tight knit group with deep appreciation for one another. The stay-at-home orders have been hard on everyone and volunteers have not been able to perform their normal duties. Sgt. Mateo says, “there is separation anxiety on both sides, as we really are like family.” Still, senior volunteers have found ways to do what they do best supporting El Cajon CHP!
Senior volunteer Adam Klarer wanted to find a way to show appreciation for the officers, clerical staff, and maintenance workers at the station. Adam, along with three other senior volunteers, Greg Menne, Jan Gray, and Dick Laycock, formed a small committee to provide meals for officers and staff of the three work shifts on April 8th. With donations collected from other senior volunteers, they were able to purchase and deliver meals from three local restaurants, as a special treat for all employees.
During normal times, the senior volunteers help the officers and public in a variety of ways such as processing paperwork, helping to install child safety seats, receiving traffic complaints from the public and entering them into the tracking system, and being a presence in the community. Sergeant Mateo notes, “You never know how good you have it, until it’s gone. The senior volunteers perform all of their duties happily, enthusiastically, with smiles on their faces, and from the goodness of their hearts.”
Captain Fouyer, the CHP El Cajon Commander, agrees and states “the senior volunteer program is very beneficial for all those involved, and the volunteers are missed every day.” Thank you to this very special group of people who exemplify the value of senior volunteerism!