Nob Hill to cut the service for financial reasons
Gilroy – Nob Hill Foods is cutting its popular senior shuttle program, much to the chagrin of seniors who say they can’t get their groceries without it. For nearly a dozen years, the van has delivered seniors from Village Green, Wheeler Manor and other complexes to the First Street store three times a week, free of charge, allowing car-less seniors to restock their shelves and freezers.
“How will I get groceries? I’m baffled,” said Betty Stafford, an octogenarian living at Wheeler Manor. Though other van services are available, “so many people just can’t afford it. If they could, they’d have other transportation.”
The program rolls to a stop Jan. 3, nearly 12 years after former Nob Hill owner Michael Bonfante devised the program for Gilroy’s seniors. It’s the only senior shuttle operated by Raley’s, which bought the Nob Hill chain in 1998 – and that’s one reason it’s on the chopping block. The other is the van itself – an ailing 1980 Dodge that’s carried as many as 16 people in one trip.
“The van had become inoperable,” said Raley’s spokeswoman Nicole Townsend. “Either the van needed some expensive maintenance or we needed to purchase a new van … It was a financial decision. We have 138 stores and this was the only place we provided this type of service. So we decided we needed to discontinue it.”
Beginning in November, Raley’s rented a van so service could continue until Jan. 3, and informed the van’s 35 regular riders that the program would end.
“They could’ve quit the service within a week or two, but they chose to keep it going until the first of the year at great expense to them,” said Patricia Scott, a van rider and resident of Sunset Gardens. “They did the best they could, for as long as they could. And they should get kudos and cheers for that.”
Not everyone is cheering, though. Last month, roughly 100 Wheeler Manor residents signed a petition protesting the change, and mailed it to Raley’s corporate office in Sacramento, said resident Gloria Lauriano.
“Eliminating the van would be a hardship for us,” said Lauriano. “Some people won’t have a way of getting to the grocery store.”
Their petition prompted a letter from Bonnie Warren, the company’s consumer affairs coordinator, citing the same financial issues Townsend raised. Warren also mentioned the other van services available from Outreach and from Catholic Charities.
“We’ve made efforts to help riders connect with transportation alternatives,” said Townsend, “and the driver provided riders with applications to the programs.”
One program operated by Catholic Charities requires seniors to be evaluated by a nurse for eligibility. The program provides transportation to doctors’ appointments and grocery stores, and costs $150 a year. Stafford said the organization uses a sliding scale to determine what riders pay, but the organization could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Another organization, Outreach, could not be reached for details about its program, but Madri, a Wheeler Manor resident with no last name, said the service costs $7 for each round trip, and limits seniors to three bags of groceries apiece.
Village Green, a Gilroy senior living community, also operates its own shuttle; resident Betty Tidwell said the service costs $60 a month.
Stafford, the Wheeler Manor resident, said that other options are too costly for seniors living on fixed incomes.
“Companies donate to charity so much,” she said. “I just don’t understand why this has been eliminated.”
Still, many say they’re grateful that Nob Hill provided the service as long as it did, free of charge. Many praised Tina Meyer, the van’s longtime driver, for her patience and care. Since the program began, Meyer has read grocery lists, toted bags and steered the van from stop to stop.
For 23 years, she’s been a part-time employee at Nob Hill, putting in full-time effort.
“Tina is a guardian angel,” said Scott.
In a week, however, Meyer will lose her job. When the van was eliminated, the store offered to find Meyer a job in another department – the deli, for example – but Meyer said after undergoing knee surgery, she can’t be on her feet all day. Besides, she said, “it’s not what I want to do.”
She wishes she could still shuttle the seniors to the grocery store, but without that lumbering van, she can’t take everyone, and without the paycheck, she’ll need to spend her time at another job.
Even after the van makes its last round, Scott said, she won’t shop anywhere else. Minus the van, that means a bus trip to Long’s Drug, crossing Wren Avenue and plodding a few more blocks on foot – a long walk for someone with bad knees, Scott said. She will be making the trip a few times a week, since she can only buy as many groceries as will fit in the cart she lugs onto the bus.
“It’s sad that we’re losing it,” she said, “but what can you do? It’s the economy. They helped for a long, long time. But they’re in business to make a profit, not to give their money away.”
Emily Alpert covers public safety issues for The Dispatch. She can be reached at 847-7158, or at ea*****@************ch.com.
