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Published Tuesday, June 30, 2009 in Local

Summer volunteers needed

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

Summer means vacations, and for Coweta's Meals on Wheels, it means a need for volunteers to help fill in.

"I have a lot of people who travel," said Sharon Parks (Bailey), local coordinator for Meals on Wheels. "I'm looking for people who can sub in the summer."

Parks is also looking for volunteers who can commit to a regular route. Routes can be once a month, once a week, or somewhere in between.

With school out, teenagers and youth are encouraged to participate as well, though they must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Most Meals on Wheels volunteers ride in teams, and up to three people can run a route together, Parks said.

She also likes to get church groups involved in the program. Parks has one church group that works as a team to cover a particular route each week.

Parks is also seeking donations for the Meals on Wheels food pantry, currently located at Unity Baptist Church. The food pantry collects food that is easy-to-prepare for the elderly Meals on Wheels clients. Many clients are diabetic, so low-sugar or sugar-free items are always needed. The pantry benefits clients in Newnan as well as Senoia. The Senoia Meals on Wheels coordinator is Nancy Elder.

The goal is to send out a food pantry delivery at least once a month to the Meals on Wheels clients, Parks said.

For more information on the Meals on Wheels food pantry, contact Martha or Jim Guiler at 770-253-2953.

Plans are also in the works for a yard sale to benefit Meals on Wheels, which will be held in conjunction with a spaghetti dinner at the Tommy Thompson Senior Center on Hospital Road in Newnan in September. With state budget cuts, additional funding is certainly useful, and donations are always accepted.

As for running a route, Parks said she has options to fit just about any schedule, based on days of the week, though food needs to be picked up at 10:30 or 11:30 a.m.

Deborah Buchanan started delivering about five months ago, and loves it.

She started volunteering to give back to the community, and loves the feeling that it gives her. "That is the reason I love to do it," she said.

She was looking for a volunteer opportunity, and saw a story about Meals on Wheel in The Times-Herald.

"I decided this is what I wanted to do, so I called them," she said.

It has been everything she expected, and more. She delivers meals to five ladies and "they are all wonderful. They are wonderful people. I love to be able to help somebody -- maybe somebody will help me when the time comes."

Sometimes, she likes to take along a little something to give to her clients. For Valentine's Day, they got daffodils from her yard. Many of her clients are diabetic and can't get candy for Valentine's Day. "They hugged my neck. They're just appreciative that someone takes a little time and a little extra effort for them," Buchanan said.

Sometimes the volunteers get together to do something special. This year, everyone put their money and heads together to provide Easter meals for the clients.

Herbert Harris has been volunteering for about six months. His grandmother received Meals on Wheels in the early 1990s, and "it really helped her," he said. "I appreciate what they did for her."

So when he found out volunteers were needed, he signed up. With his work schedule, he is able to deliver three Fridays in a row, then he works for three Fridays, then goes back to delivering meals.

He really enjoys the volunteer work, especially talking to the clients. "For some of the people, you are probably the only person they talk to," he said.

Deloris Smith volunteered several years ago, but then stopped for a while.

When her mother and mother-in-law started going to the Tommy Thompson Senior Center in Newnan, Smith would go visit them there. She really appreciated "all the care" that Center Director Ida Johnson and the senior center staff gave them, Smith said.

After both women passed away, Smith and her employees at Sellers-Smith Funeral Home "committed ourselves to doing Meals on Wheels because of the love they shared with my mother and mother-in-law."

That was last summer. Someone from her group runs a route every Wednesday, and also is available to sub when needed.

"Everyone loves doing it," Smith said.

For more information, or to volunteer, you may contact Parks at 770-255-9443, or Ida Johnson, director of the Tommy Thompson Senior Citizens Center, at 770-683-8600.