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The volunteers for the county Office for the Aging were acknowledged Tuesday, which was National Superhero Day, for their efforts in getting food to and checking on senior citizens in the area. Volunteers were thanked as a surprise in the shared parking lot between Mercy Apartments and The Commons on St. Anthony building in Auburn that morning.

Kim Dungey, the office's senior nutrition program volunteer coordinator, wore a superhero cape for the occasion. Dungey's colleagues in the office had balloons and signs praising the volunteers and cheered them on. As volunteers were leaving to make their deliveries, they were sent off with the sirens from Auburn Police Department and Cayuga County Sheriff's Office vehicles. Other program volunteers were set to be honored the same way Wednesday.

Though the sentiment may seem cheesy, Dungey said, she truly believes the drivers who have stepped up to help out during the respiratory illness outbreak are superheroes. She said many of their usual volunteers, some of whom are in their 80s, are not currently driving because of virus exposure risk. Some of the new drivers have been furloughed from their jobs; others have flexible work schedules or were otherwise willing and able to help.

"I would say all of them drove once and said 'I love doing this and I want to keep doing it,'" Dungey said. "They love serving the people, they love meeting the folks. They feel like they're getting more out of the experience than the recipients are getting."

New safety protocols have been established for deliveries, such as volunteers hanging the recipient's food on their door with a plastic bag. Volunteers wait for the recipients to come to the door, and if a recipient is taking a long time, they will be called to ensure they are OK. Drivers are using hand sanitizer before and after each stop, and all are wearing masks.

The county aging office said volunteers make deliveries to over 250 people on six county routes every weekday, with an extra seven Auburn routes on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays and additional routes in Fair Haven, Locke and Moravia.

Dungey said seeing new people pitch in under the circumstances has been heartwarming.

"I've only been doing this job about a year, and right from the get-go the best part of it has been the volunteers," she said. "They tell me part of my role is to be supportive of the volunteers and I think putting on a cape and mask and acting a little goofy once in a while is a small price to pay to say thank you."

Dungey added that that she feels the program's volunteers are silent heroes within the community for making sure homebound seniors get "a hot meal every day, a friendly greeting and a really important safety check.

"I'm not sure how some of these folks would be managing if they didn't have the daily food delivery," Dungey said.

Jay Woodard, a program volunteer for around two years, said after the surprise that he appreciated the gesture.

"It was a very nice sign of appreciation," he said. "We do go out in some pretty nasty conditions some days, but we do what we like to do because there are people out there depending on us, not only just to bring a meal to them but also for some personal contact and the fact that a lot of days we're the only people that those people see."

Woodard said he feels volunteers' chances of contracting the virus are low due to the safety precautions, which he feels are important for drivers to follow. He felt volunteering was still necessary despite the new, potentially dangerous circumstances.

"The need is still there, that hasn't changed. I mean, maybe the distribution has changed a little bit, the way we have to conduct ourselves, but the need is still there," he said. "That did not change, that did not go away."