Driven to help by offering rides
Meet Roger Hammerli, Faith in Action's Ride with Pride volunteer
Nominated by: Bob Panzer, who says that Roger Hammerli "brings joy to all in transporting seniors for Faith in Action's Ride with Pride." Hammerli has been a volunteer with the group for the past seven years.
About the program: Faith in Action is a nonprofit organization that offers nonmedical support services to a wide section of the community including seniors, the disabled and people suffering from chronic illnesses. The outfit's Ride With Pride program literally gives Vacaville seniors a lift to the McBride Senior Center, doctor's appointments, basically wherever they need to go.
Why does he do it? "He's interested in people; enjoys their company," Panzer said. Hammerli agreed. "What makes me stick with this is the people. By the time I've gone six or seven blocks back to the center, the van is rollicking," he said. "My community is my family. ... If each one of us did something, the world would be different. I personally believe that."
A favorite anecdote: Too many stories, Hammerli said. A stand-out, though, includes the "health" of his modes of transportation. He lost one van to a flood in the early 1990s. In 1994, after dropping off a client, he was broadsided while driving through the area of Dobbins Street at East Monte Vista Avenue, damaging the van. And on New Year's Eve in 2005, another van was nearly destroyed by flood damage. It was since repaired.
- By Kimberly K. Fu
