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Press Releases
2008 Volunteer of the Year!
Congratulations to Judy Zogus for receiving the Max and Helen Israelite Volunteer of the Year Award. Judy she has never missed a scheduled day of service while providing over 436 rides and driving over 4500 miles to help seniors in Central Florida. Judy began a lifetime of community service through her faith organization in Chicago before retiring to Orlando and Making ITNOrlando the beneficiary of her generosity. But that is not all.
Although rare, sometimes when drivers arrive to pick up a passenger there is no one home. Schedule changes, confusion or simply forgetfulness are the typical reasons. But the reason was much more serious on March 17, 2008 when Judy went to pick up an 80- year old member. When she didn’t get an answer at the door, Judy became concerned and called the ITN office. A call to the member’s home phone was not answered and a call to her daughter heightened concern. Judy and several neighbors walked around the apartment building to see if anything seemed to be wrong. Emergency 911 was called and when they got into the apartment, they found the member lying on the floor where she had fallen the night before. At the hospital they found no broken bones and this 80- year old has mended fairly well. Drivers are asked to wait 15 minutes, but because Judy Zogus cared enough to call the office, to stick around and make sure she was taken care of, our member is alive and well today.
ITNOrlando is forever grateful for Judy’s generosity, hard work, and dedication. Congratulations Judy!
Liberty Mutual debuts Driver Seat Game
June 19, 2009
Liberty Mutual launched its online Driver Seat Game, a video game that will allow players of all ages to experience first-hand the physical and cognitive limitations that older drivers may experience while operating a motor vehicle. The goal of the game is to make players sensitive to the physical obstacles faced by their parents at various stages of aging and inspire conversations between adult children and their senior parents.
Click here to read the press release.
Katherine Freund named 2009 AARP Inspire Award Honoree
Decenber 4, 2008
Click here to read the press release.
Winter Park Mayor David Strong provides 5,000th Ride for ITNOrlando
Winter Park Mayor David Strong provides 5,000th Ride for ITNOrlando
When Eleanor Irvine, 88, needs groceries, she simply hops into the car and travels to her neighborhood supermarket. But it's not her car she hops into because she gave up driving over 30 years ago. Ms. Irvine relies on ITNOrlando.
"Imagine how surprised Ms. Irvine was when the volunteer who picked her up was the Mayor of Winter Park," said Tom Porter, Executive Director of ITNOrlando. ITNOrlando currently has 20 volunteer drivers who, along with the organization's paid drivers, provide rides in Winter Park, Maitland, Eatonville, Orlando and surrounding areas. "Volunteers are the backbone of our organization, and we hope that others will follow Mayor Strong's example and be inspired to help."
Honoring Ann Nicolson
Tom Porter, Executive Director, ITNOrlando, Thursday, February 14, 2008
Ann Nicolson
Ann Nicolson was the first ITNOrlando volunteer to drive for us, even if it was just "pretend." One of the local news shows did a story about us and Ann drove for the television camera weeks before we gave our first "real" ride. Over one hundred times since then, Ann got into her car, picked up a customer and drove them to their destination. Ann, like all of our volunteers, was a very generous person.
One of Ann's first riders was Eleanor Irvine. They discovered they had a lot in common and quickly became good friends. Ann would drive them to lunch, to look at the newest stores and restaurants that had recently opened and to evening social outings. On the news clip, Ann said that she liked to drive and mentioned that she wanted to ensure she had a place in someone's car when she could no longer drive. That place was in my car on January 11, 2008, sooner than any of us expected and it was from a hospital to Ann's temporary home in a Winter Park rehabilitation center. Ann passed away on Thursday, January 31, 2008.
The following Monday, I picked up Eleanor Irvine and we drove to the memorial service. I was not surprised when several of Ann's lifelong friends and family members noted her many interests, her sense of humor and her zest for living. I was not surprised when they recounted the many ways that she helped others and generously gave of herself. And I was not surprised when Ann's daughter Lucy told me she learned generosity from her mom and directed that the mileage credits Ann earned go to Eleanor and that Ann's car go to ITN.
It's sad knowing that I will no longer talk to Ann or see her smiling face at our volunteer celebrations. I'm sure that those of you who knew her will miss her, too. I hope that Ann's family (and I believe Ann) will take comfort in knowing that she is still giving generously to our customers and still providing rides to Eleanor Irvine.