Local 599 retiree awarded for his service to others

UAW Local 599 retiree Garland Draper and his wife, Rita.

Sometimes you wonder what makes someone give up their free time to help others.

After one conversation with UAW Local 599 retiree Garland Draper, there’s no doubt.

“We have people out here who don’t have anything. I walked into an elderly man’s house on my route with a little $2.50 meal, and here he is grinning ear to ear, wearing an oxygen mask, sitting in his wheelchair, with no complaints. He had $10 left for the month in his pocket, and it was the first of the month. But he was just happy to get that meal.”

In 1950 when Draper started working for General Motors’ Buick Motor Division in Flint, Mich., his union dues were 50 cents a month. One of the original hires after the plant returned to vehicle production after World War II, Draper retired in 1980 when he was just 48.

With time on his hands, Draper, who lives with his wife, Rita, in Vassar, needed to keep busy. So he got involved in his church, honed his woodworking skills – a craft he’s practiced since he was 17 – and took some classes. But after awhile he got restless and felt the need to do more. He just wasn’t sure what.

The answer came when a flier from the Caro office of the Michigan Community Action Agency Association (MCAA) showed up on his doorstep. By the time he ended his phone call to the agency, he’d committed to delivering meals three days a week to the sick and shut-ins in Tuscola County.

That was 11 years ago.

In March the MCAA honored him with the state’s Volunteer of the Year award.

“I just thank the Lord that he’s given me the health and strength to do this, and I guess I’ll keep doing this until I can’t do it anymore,” said Draper, 77, who received a regional award in 2009. “One of these days I’ll be considered a senior citizen, and then I’ll get a big kick out of it.”

Draper drives more than 120 miles a day – that’s 360 miles a week – and has delivered meals as far north as Genesee County.

“I’m very humbled by the honor,” Draper said. “I don’t know how to thank others for this award, and I’m just one name among many.”

And it’s those like that grateful man in the wheelchair who keep him going.

“There are a lot of people in need out there,” Draper said. “I’m just doing my part.”

Gwynne Marie Cobb