TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Meals on Wheels is a lifeline for hundreds of Tallahassee seniors, providing a meal and a friendly face to help them stay in their homes longer.
Elder Care Services hosted its annual “Big Wheels Deliver Meals” Thursday. It’s an invitation each year for leaders to ride along and see the impact of the deliveries for themselves.
Deborah Hunter is one of nearly 300 seniors who get a knock on the door each day and receive both a hot meal and a cold meal for her and her husband.
“The meals are good, the service is good,” Hunter said. “I can count on them for anything, it’s not just for Meals on Wheels, it’s for anything.”
It’s especially handy now as she recovers from surgery.
“So it’s more than a meal?”
“Yes, it is. It’s like a family thing,” Hunter said.
Meals on Wheels volunteers got lots of extra help Thursday. Community leaders were invited to join them on their regular routes to learn more about Meals on Wheels and get an up close look at the challenges many of those seniors face.
“I’m excited about helping somebody, making somebody’s day, bringing a smile to their face,” Capital Health Plan’s Mozart Procena said as he loaded coolers into the car.
It was Procena’s first time delivering Meals on Wheels. It was Rima Nathan’s first time too.
“We’re hoping to just connect with people in our community and make sure that they have a friend today to talk to,” said Rima Nathan with the FSU Law School’s Elder Law Clinic.
Tom Kirwin has been knocking on doors and showing up for seniors with food and friendship in hand for decades.
“I guess everybody has a desire to help and this is the way that I can help,” Kirwin said. “It’s different for different seniors. For some I have the feeling that if you weren’t there and weren’t delivering the food, there would be no food.”
Both WCTV’s Julie Montanaro and Ava Van Valen joined Meals on Wheels volunteers on their routes Thursday.
WCTV’s Julie Montanaro with volunteer Tom Kirwin and senior Ms. Hunter(WCTV / Julie Montanaro)
“I love to meet all the clients, all the wonderful people, and see what they do every day,” Van Valen said. “They do a lot for our community.”
Right now, Elder Care Services delivers meals to the homes of 280 seniors in Leon County and provides food to another 216 seniors at its congregate meal sites.
There are nearly 500 people still on a waiting list to receive Meals on Wheels, Elder Care’s Nicole Ballas said.
“Right now in Leon County we have 496 older adults that are waiting for someone to come to their door,” Ballas said. “They need the nutrition and somebody to open it with a big smile and say ‘How are you today?’
Ballas said they have seen the number of seniors on the wait list rise dramatically over the past three years.
“It’s pretty shocking to see the rise and the need keeps going up and the number of seniors in Leon County keeps rising and so we’ve got to keep going and meet that need,” she said.
Elder Care Services is finalizing contracts to start construction on a new bigger, better kitchen right now. It will help them to put a dent in the waiting list.
It’s hoping to break ground on the expansion at the end of the summer.
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