Meal program needs wheels

Seven homes, eight hot meals, 20 miles, every Tuesday.

It may be a routine, but for 18-year Meals on Wheels volunteer Kathy Foreman, traveling delivery route 11 is uplifting.

“I volunteer for quite a bit of groups,” Foreman said as she drove her supply of turkey a la king to various homes Tuesday morning. “I’ve cut back on everything else except this, because I love it too much.”

But volunteers like Foreman are getting hard to find. For the first time in several years, the Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels program is in “desperate” need for volunteers to help drive food to shut-in seniors.

There are 11 driving positions open and in need of volunteer help, said Pam Almeida, director of Spokane Valley’s Meals on Wheels.

“For the past several years we’ve been pretty good with volunteers,” Almeida said. “But just this fall we have a huge gap.”

At Spokane’s Meals on Wheels program, volunteers are usually provided by local churches, but they’re also losing many volunteers, said Cheri Muncton, executive director for the Spokane program.

In the Valley, emergency substitutes have been filling in, but they’re getting stretched thin, Almeida said. Spokane’s program is filling the gaps with part-time staff.

Meals on Wheels serves about 261 people in the Valley, delivering about 200 hot meals each day, Almeida said.

Volunteers like Foreman start by picking up both hot and frozen meals at the Valley Meals on Wheels headquarters, then bringing the food to seniors along a carefully planned route, complete with turn-by-turn directions and special dietary requests.

Foreman made seven stops Tuesday, and she checked in with recipients to make sure they’re doing all right. For some people, their Meals on Wheels volunteer is their only social contact of the day.

“They check on their well-being; they’re a lifeline for seniors in the community,” Almeida said. “It’s very meaningful to our meal recipients, not just for the food but for the kindness.”

The tasks usually take an hour and a half, then the volunteer returns the empty trays and coolers to the office. Those willing to help can volunteer as many days as they wish. Foreman does only Tuesdays, and sometimes she’ll compare notes with other people who drive her route to see whether any recipients seem to need more attention.

Foreman drives her 1987 Honda – still running at 325,502 miles – to make deliveries. There is a program to help volunteers with gas money, but Foreman said it doesn’t cost that much.

“I don’t need that program, I just figure this is what I’m supposed to be doing, so I just do it,” Foreman said.

While the need for additional help is high, the Meals on Wheels program is also starting its fall fund drive.

Federal funds to help the program are dropping each year, Almeida said.

“It’s left a huge hole in our budget, and we have to fill that with community donations,” Almeida said.