MT. VERNON — Neighbors Driving Neighbors, the volunteer ride service, honor its co-founders Sandy Wright and Dr. Dan Onion at a ceremony held Aug. 3 at the Mt. Vernon Community Center.

Guest of honor, Sandy Wright addresses the community at her recognition ceremony. Bill Rosenberg photo

A bronze plaque, mounted on a granite stone and installed on the Community Center grounds, was dedicated to Wright and Onion in recognition of their years of service to the organization and the community. The stone and plaque were made possible through contributions from board members of the organization and donations from the community.

NDN President Harald Bredesen welcomed everyone to the ceremony. Guest of honor, Wright, a longtime Mt. Vernon resident and president of the Mt. Vernon Community Partnership Corporation for many years, was in attendance along with members of the Wright and Onion families and many friends and community members. (Onion passed away in 2022.)

Board member Shelly Fitzgerald spoke about the beginnings of organization and how Wright and Onion brought NDN from idea to reality.

In 2013 Onion was the Health officer for Mt. Vernon and Vienna. In that capacity he was aware of individuals struggling to remain in the community because they were no longer able to drive. They needed to rely on others for rides to pick up prescriptions, do grocery shopping, and get to doctors appointments.

Recognizing a common challenge, Onion and Wright joined forces. As president of Community Partnership Corporation, Wright enabled the newly formed NDN to use the corporation as its fiscal agent as they applied for and received the first grants. (The Community Partnership Corporation promotes economic and community development for the benefit of the citizens of Mt. Vernon.) They worked together with the consultants to set up focus groups in local towns, organized outreach and laid the groundwork for the organization.

“No one worked harder than Dan and Sandy for this organization … whether it was giving rides, personalizing and stuffing annual appeal letters into envelopes at Sandy’s kitchen table, or cooking pancakes at the community breakfast. They led the way with their example and helped make NDN the strong organization that you see today,” Fitzgerald said.

Wright retired from the board in January 2022. Onion stepped down as president in 2022 but continued to serve on the board as long as he was able.

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