![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/12\/1-2-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWilson Rides does great things, and its founders have worked hard to make the nonprofit successful. The program began as a conversation between Home Instead franchise owner Maggie Lea and Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto, who had noticed a need for older adults to have transportation in the county. Together, they created a task force to establish the nonprofit. That task force became Wilson Rides\u2019 first board of directors, and they received a grant in 2020 to help get the program started.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are other public and private transportation opportunities; they can\u2019t possibly service everyone, and neither can we, but we are all filling a gap and a need in these older adults\u2019 lives,\u201d Wilson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
COVID-19 put all those plans off for months until, in February 2021, Wilson was hired with only three months to get the program running before the grant expired. Wilson Rides began with just one rider and one driver in May. Now, the number of volunteers is in the 60s, with around 125 riders taking advantage of the program. Everyone is benefiting, Wilson said, from the older adults who can keep medical appointments, shop, and take pets to the vet to the volunteer drivers who visit with and learn from those they drive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have seen a tremendous change in all of those folks\u2019 lives,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cAll of their spirits have lifted – the volunteers and the riders.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Wilson Rides continues to grow, Wilson hopes the other programs within it will grow and expand as well. To do that, however, the program needs volunteer drivers. Those drivers get to pick the day, the time, and the person that they drive, and Wilson Rides only asks for one or two trips a month. Most volunteers, Wilson said, end up doing more because they enjoy it so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you are looking for an easy way to volunteer that is very meaningful in your own life, this is one of the ways you can,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cWe need to take care of our elders, and this is an easy way in Wilson County to do that.\u201d GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A community is often judged by how it treats its older adults, and the staff and volunteers of Wilson Rides Inc. work hard to make sure Lebanon and Wilson County rise above all expectations. Founded in April 2020, Wilson Rides serves older adults ages 55 and up in Watertown, Lebanon, Mount Juliet, Old Hickory, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":22346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n