There are shortages of hands almost everywhere these days, especially when it comes to volunteers. But that doesn’t bother them with the pick-up and delivery service of the MuzeRijk community center in Uden. Volunteers are queuing up to take the elderly from A to B in the MuzeMobile. In fact, there are sometimes even waiting lists to do the work.
Volunteer Ruud Donders walks into the community center in a blue safety vest. “Where do you want to go, madam?” he asks Corry, an older lady who is waiting for her regular taxi service.
Ruud has been riding the electric cart for about five years now, from the first day the MuzeMobiel was there. He mainly picks up elderly people who have difficulty walking and drives them around Uden. “These people otherwise sit at home lonely all day,” he says. “As soon as they get in they start laughing. Then I turn on music and we have a lot of fun. They are so grateful. Sometimes they even give me a bar of chocolate.”
Ruud and ten other drivers drive around a hundred people every week. In addition, there are also ten volunteers at the reception who plan the rides. “These people all register themselves,” says initiator Hans van Zon. “We only have it stated on the back of the van that we are still looking for drivers and that works.”
According to him, there are sometimes even more registrations than drivers are needed. “The drivers really enjoy doing it. Ruud, for example, really considers it his baby. Don’t say anything negative about it because he’ll kick you out of the van. I am convinced of that,” he laughs.
“There are drivers who have a cup of coffee with their passengers.”
Corry wants to go to the center and she walks outside together with Ruud. He puts her walker on the back and helps her into the cart. As they drive away, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ plays from the speakers. In the meantime they have a chat.
“I cannot walk well and therefore cannot get away much,” says Corry Hanegraaf. “That’s why I think it’s fantastic that I can call MuzeRijk to take me to the doctor or the supermarket. They are always nice drivers, they are always on time and they take you everywhere. That is just very nice.”
And so on some days Ruud even drives for hours with Corry through Uden to take her to all her appointments. “I even got in once with a very large plant,” says Corry, chuckling. “The cashier said that the driver would not take it with him, but Ruud does.”
“Politicians want every neighborhood in Uden to get this.”
According to Hans, that is also the reason why so many drivers want to do the work so badly. “Our volunteers can take the time for people. There are drivers who drink a cup of coffee with them or drive around the block to show something. That is not possible with a normal taxi company,” he explains. “These are vulnerable people with a story and our drivers see what it means for them to go out.”
The MuzeMobile was initially only for residents of the Bitswijk, but now residents in the surrounding neighborhoods can also use it. And there will probably be more in the coming years. “Politicians are already in discussions with us to ensure that every district in Uden receives this,” says Van Zon.