PORTLAND, Ore. — We know TriMet for its public transportation. Now seven TriMet employees are shifting jobs to transport food during the COVID-19 crisis.
Members of TriMet's on-street customer service team aren't doing their usual job of helping people after Blazers games or big events. But rather than cut their hours, TriMet reassigned them to help Meals on Wheels.
For the next month, TriMet will pay them an hourly wage to pack meals and deliver them to homes across the Portland area.
“To meet a lot of our customers where they live and show a different side of TriMet is a lot of fun,” said TriMet’s Dameion Samuelson who was reassigned to help Meals on Wheels.
While his assignment is just temporary, Samuelson sees it as a chance to highlight what Meals on Wheels volunteers do every day, including connecting with and listening to the people they serve.
“They’ll want to talk about some of the interesting things that happened to them that day,” said Samuelson. "Sometimes being a listening ear is all they really need, it's just as important as having food.”
Meals on Wheels makes and delivers 8,000 meals a day across the Portland metro area.
"The requests for meals has skyrocketed in the last month," said Meals on Wheels People CEO Suzanne Washington. "We are very grateful to corporate partners, like TriMet, who have stepped up to provide us with volunteers in both our Central Kitchen and to help deliver meals."
The organization says added demand for food has incurred unprecedented costs. If you’d like to make a financial donation to Meals on Wheels, you can do so here.