Helping seniors one meal at a time

MT. PLEASANT — Milestone Home Delivered Meals is looking for dedicated volunteer delivery drivers for their Meals on Wheels program.

Some volunteers dropped out of the program during the pandemic. Now the program is need of new volunteers to deliver meals and provide an important connection for people who are confined to their homes.

Because of the pandemic, the program had to move from its regular five-day delivery schedule down to a two-day delivery schedule, to help limit exposure to the volunteers and the clients they serve.

“It’s gone a little bit crazy, we went from a five-day delivery of hot meals to a two-day delivery that all clients were getting a hot meal and a frozen meal for the days we weren’t delivering,” said Mariah Meeks, the program coordinator.

Now that vaccination rates are rising and infection rates remain relatively low, Meeks is moving back to the five-day a week delivery service. Ultimately the group is needing two to three full-time volunteers to drive the meals to seniors. Substitute delivery drivers also are needed.

Not only is the group moving back to delivering five days but they have expanded who they are serving to include anyone that applies over the age of 60 and people that live in the rural area around Mt. Pleasant.

“So during the pandemic we reduced the number of contacts and also increased the number of people we served. We didn’t turn anyone away, they just had to be 60 or over for us to delivery,” said Kelley Rippenger who assists with the program at the Milestone Area Agency on Aging.

The meals are approved by a dietitian and contain one-third of the seniors daily requirement in all food groups. They serve hot meals once a day to seniors to help them stay nourished and happy.

The group also serves as a wellness check on its clients so when they don’t answer their door the volunteers get worried.

The program allows the 50 seniors they serve to get a nutritious meal cooked and ready to eat once a day to help them get their daily nutritional values.

“I think it’s important to give food to seniors that can’t go to the store or go to a restaurant to eat. Some of them are homebound, and some don’t have family in the area to help them out,” Meeks said. “With these meals it gives them a nutritious meal once a day that gets them all their fruits and veggies in one meal.”