Grayslake man honored for Meals on Wheels volunteer service

With many suburban seniors on fixed incomes and facing ever-rising costs, Catholic Charities' Meals on Wheels often can be lifesaving.

In the past year, the program served more than 106,000 meals in Lake County alone, including nearly 33,000 sit-down meals. While the program makes a difference to many homebound seniors, its ability to survive depends on dedicated volunteers like Grayslake resident Jim Knaff, who recently received the organization's Silver Plate Award for 2016 for his continuing service.

"Getting out, the people you meet, I guess this fits my bill and is just part of me. It's a different life," the 88-year-old Knaff said of his volunteer work. "You get an education about seniors. People tell me their life stories. I am a senior citizen, but you cannot believe what you learn. "I know some things, but nothing compared to what these people know. What they know blows your brains. You realize you are a just a drop of water in comparison."

Catholic Charities credits Knaff with delivering meals to homebound senior citizens for 20 years in DuPage and Lake counties. In the Lake County 18th Annual Meals on Wheels Benefit program book introduction, Catholic Charites Archdiocese of Chicago President Monsignor Michael Boland said: "Jim embodies the true spirit of volunteerism. His selfless generosity is a blessing."

Knaff worked in the oil industry for 28 years as a heavy machinery mechanic. After retirement, he wanted to remain productive.

He said he was introduced to Meals on Wheels while driving a couple of friends to a senior center in January 1995.

"They needed a ride. One day, one of them asked me to come inside the senior center to see what they did," Knaff said. "By the time I got out of there, I had a job delivering meals five days a week."

Even though he had no idea what to do, he began to "love every minute of it."

His responsibilities are to drive meals to homebound senior citizens registered for the program and to ensure they are delivered to each person. But he usually goes beyond dropping off meals by checking to make sure the senior is doing OK, often taking time to chat with them during or after his delivery. He also has been known to do small favors for them, like rewinding a clock or changing a light bulb. He also delivered furniture provided by Catholic Charities to homebound seniors for a while.

His former Lombard site manager Barbara Pestel described Knaff as "fun-loving and happy - a site manager's dream. If someone didn't show up (to deliver meals), he'd be there and would fill in for them. He'd get in early every (week) day and would stay until all the meals were out. If people were sick or couldn't make it, he would take their routes. He would make sure everyone got their meals. He was very concerned for the seniors and if they didn't answer, he would go back and check on them."

Even when he fell and broke his foot, Knaff was persistent before being forced to take a brief hiatus from his rounds.

"One snowy day he didn't come in as early and I was concerned," Pestel said. "He finally showed up but was limping. He said he'd slipped on the ice in the backyard."

Even though he was not sure he could get in and out of the car, he told her if she could "have someone run in and out, he could still drive. I told him he needed to go to the doctor. He insisted on going out first."

Pestel said the whole time Knaff was out, seniors would call to ask about him and were glad when he came back.

Almost every year, he would be nominated for an award for Wheels on Meals. Knaff would decline the nomination, which was based, among other criteria, on volunteer length of time, frequency of volunteering and the reliability of the volunteer.

"He is very modest and never wanted any recognition," said Kathy Jordan, volunteer director for the DuPage Senior Council.

York Township Deputy Supervisor Michael Mariani said the township delivers 40,000 to 50,000 home meals a year and he estimated Knaff delivered 20 to 30 meals a day for at least 10 years.

"The number is astronomical," Mariani said. "In addition to serving meals, he took pride in doing well-being checks and letting us know if something was wrong with shut-ins. He would get a big kick out of being Santa. Everyone would tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Everyone trusted him, felt he was the salt of the earth. He was a goodwill ambassador, an example of volunteerism at its best. We were sad when he moved away."

After he moved to Lake County in 2013, Knaff continued to volunteer and was again nominated by a site coordinator for excellence in his volunteer duties. This year, he accepted.

"It is something really nice," he said, but "I didn't expect to get an award. Why would I get something like that?"