HOW TO HELP
Meals on Wheels Plus is in need of volunteers. Many of the regulars are on vacation, and college students haven’t started arriving yet for fall classes. Betty Bradley, executive director, said staff members frequently have to take time from their regular work to deliver multiple routes every day. “It has been very stressful,” she said. 
If you can help, either with a regular route or as a substitute, please get in touch: 
https://www.mealsonwheelsplus.com/volunteer/
717 N. 10th St. 79601
672-5050
SPORTING CLAYS CLASSIC
Volunteers also are needed for the Sporting Clays Classic fundraiser, set for Saturday, Aug. 19, at Abilene Clays Sports, 1102 Spur 707. Fifty volunteers are needed for the first rotation and 50 for the second rotation: 7:30-11:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, contact JoAnne Glantz at 672-5050 or jglantz@mealsonwheelsplus.com
PET FOOD DONATIONS NEEDED
Meals on Wheels Plus always is in need of pet food donations and monetary donations for vaccination and spay/neuter vouchers. Drop off donations at the office, 717 N. 10th St. or mail them to that address, or click here to donate online. On the donation page, click on “Solicit Code” to designate the donation for pets.

By LORETTA FULTON

The need was obvious, and Ritchie Rud decided to do something about it.

He already was volunteering with Meals on Wheels Plus when he learned that part of the “Plus” referred to the agency’s partnership with Big Country Veterinary Clinic. Thanks to the clinic’s partnership with the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation, it is able to provide a free annual exam, immunizations and medicines for animals belonging to low-income clients. 

As a man who loves his “fur babies,” he immediately volunteered to be part of the Meals on Wheels program to take clients’ pets to the veterinarian. As of now, he is the only person who performs that service for Meals on Wheels, although one other person fills in occasionally. Betty Bradley, executive director of Meals on Wheels Plus, isn’t surprised at Rud’s generosity.

“He has a heart of gold,” she said, “and he has a passion for taking care of pets.”

Of course, Rud’s service to pets is in addition to delivering meals to clients. Since October 2020, when he began volunteering with Meals on Wheels Plus, Rud has delivered 16,779 meals over 543 days. 

Ritchie Rud visits with Meals on Wheels Plus client Birdie Jones. Her dog Dillon rests by her leg. (Photo courtesy Meals on Wheels Plus)

The service to pets is just a bonus or a “Plus.” In the past six years, the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation has provided almost $100,000 in support of the Meals on Wheels Plus program in Abilene, Rud said. June 2023 was the busiest month to date for taking pets to the vet, with 46 individual appointments during 18 visits to Big Country Veterinary Clinic. From the beginning of his service through the end of June 2023, Rud has made 231 trips to the vet for 523 individual appointments. 

On top of that, Rud digs deep into his own pockets for other veterinary services and to provide grooming for clients’ pets. He has partnered with Dog Gone Pretty Grooming Salon, which gives him a discount because of the number of animals he brings in. 

“Our clients are usually on very tight budgets due to fixed incomes,” Rud said. “I know that getting their pets groomed and bathed is probably a luxury they can’t afford.”

Sometimes clients contribute to the cost, but much of the time Rud covers it. So far, Rud has taken taken 519 pets for nail trimmings, 67 for grooming, and 11 for baths. 

Ritchie Rud carries a pet to the vet. (Photo courtesy Meals on Wheels Plus)

Rud credited Maria Jimenez, assistant volunteer coordinator at Meals on Wheels Plus, for gathering information from clients about their pets to ensure they qualify for the program and for scheduling all the vet appointments.

“She also acts as a conduit between me and the clients,” Rud said, “to make sure I receive messages from clients requesting nail trims and grooming.”

Rud doesn’t just take care of other people’s pets. He has five rescue dogs, five rescue cats and a house cat of his own. Plus, he fosters animals through All Kind Animal Shelter and currently is fostering a client’s dog until the client heals from a broken back.  

Rud retired in 2001 from Dyess Air Force Base after serving as a C-130 loadmaster for 27 years. In 2004, he got a degree in social work from Abilene Christian University and briefly helped at Meals on Wheels Plus as part of his degree requirements. Rud and his wife lived for a while in Katy, near Houston, where Rud worked for a company that aided corporate pilots with international logistics and flight preparation. In 2020, after the death of his wife, Rud returned to Abilene. 

Volunteering with Meals on Wheels Plus to aid both people and pets is part of the grieving process Rud is going through for his late wife, who loved animals. He believes it is part of God’s plan to put him in this place at this time to help with his own grieving and to help others who are struggling.

“I consider all the people I have met in just three years of delivering meals to be my friends and family,” he said. “Getting to take care of and love on their fur babies is a bonus I never take for granted.”

Loretta Fulton is creator and editor of Spirit of Abilene