Meals on Wheels

One of the volunteer opportunities that has interested me since I first saw the article in the paper is that of driver/deliverer for Meals on Wheels. In Sacramento this program is administered by the county Senior Nutrition Services. I began the process of becoming a volunteer a couple of weeks ago when I downloaded, completed, and sent in my application. I suspect it will be at least that much longer before I'm actually in service. The usual red tape.

But this morning I had the opportunity to visit the main facility where the meals are prepared...

and packaged and loaded into insulated bags for delivery.

Some are loaded into large trucks and taken to branch sites where there is both congregate eating and satellite distribution efforts.

Others are taken by employees and volunteers directly to homes of people who can't routinely get out of the house or are too far away to enjoy the congregate meal facilities. Full-time employee Al got the short straw and was rewarded by having me accompany him on his route this morning. During the course of about 2 hours we dropped off 20 hot meals (beef stroganoff), 21 5-pack frozen dinners, and 2 shelf-stable meals. Everyone seemed delighted to see us and several wanted to spend more time talking than we really had available. The meals must be delivered within a two-hour time period. They are also checked to ensure that they are still warm by the time they reach their destination.

By the end of the route, I was pretty certain this would be a nice weekly activity for me. And we didn't even have to use the box of dog treats in the back of the van to pacify any meddlesome dogs on the route.