Today Lou Albright, volunteering with Meals on Wheels since 2006, received an Unsung Hero Award from Lehigh County Aging & Adult Services.
The Unsung Heroes Program pays tribute to people 60 and older who, regardless of age, display exceptional generosity with their time and talents for the benefit of the community and/or to enhance the lives of others. The program salutes ordinary individuals who do extraordinary things. Unsung Heroes are people who live quietly among us, inspiring all those who are privileged to know them.
There are people who see a need and step forward to help. Lou Albright is one of those people. With a strong sense of purpose and true dedication, Lou has given generously of his time to provide service for others.
A major focus of Lou’s volunteer activity is his work with Meals on Wheels of Lehigh County. He joined Meals on Wheels in 2006 and quickly became an indispensable part of the program, driving the longest route, a forty-five mile trek to New Tripoli, and another route each week. Driving these same routes on a regular basis, Lou has developed a strong connection to the clients he serves. While he’s delivered more than 18,000 meals and driven more than 17,500 miles.
Lou’s volunteer work at Meals on Wheels has expanded to include other duties besides driving. Every week, he arrives early to put out coolers and unpack and distribute weekend packs. He assists with frozen holiday meals and also with blizzard bags, supplies sent out in anticipation of bad weather cancellations. He sorts and updates route sheets, picks up items from the office, and even helps make coffee and put out doughnuts! He has recruited people to join Meals on Wheels and has trained numerous new volunteers as they ride along on his route to observe delivery procedures. All of these efforts have led Lou to accumulate an impressive 1,250 hours of volunteer time.
Devoting this much time to Meals on Wheels doesn’t limit Lou’s active schedule with the Lions Club. A member of the Upper Lehigh Lions Club for seven years, Lou merged his volunteer activities by making presentations about Meals on Wheels to the more than 50 clubs in the district. True to form, his list of activities with the Lions Club doesn’t end there. He assists with the craft show, the Schnecksville Fair, hoagie sales, and other fundraising events. He’s been on the breakfast committee for many years and helps with everything from posting and removing the highway advertising signs to clearing and resetting tables. As is true with his work at Meals on Wheels, he arrives early and stays until the work is complete.
At sixty-nine, Lou clearly believes in staying busy, so it’s no surprise that he participates in other activities as well. He’s a member of the Rod and Gun Club and was chairman of their membership committee for many years. He goes to the gym three days a week, though most people would get enough of a workout just trying to keep up with his regular schedule! Despite obstacles in his own life, Lou shrugs off difficulties and maintains a positive outlook. A man of strong principles who is held in high esteem by those who know him, Lou epitomizes the difference one person can make through sheer perseverance and dedication. He is truly an unsung hero.