Published Monday, July 21, 2008
'Meals' needs volunteers
The Times-Herald
Coweta's Meals on Wheels program provides a hot meal five days a week to residents in Newnan and Senoia. The program is a factor that allows elderly residents to be able to stay in their own homes, instead of having to move in with relatives or into assisted living.
But Coweta's Meals on Wheels isn't able to provide hot, nourishing meals for everyone that needs them.
Right now, there are 38 people on the waiting list, said Volunteer Coordinator Sharon Bailey.
The program gets the majority of its funding from The United Way, and that funding has been cut, Bailey said.
The only way that new people can get served right now is by "private pay."
Meals cost $2.50 each, so if an elderly person has someone who can cover the $50 monthly cost, and that person lives in an area served by Meals on Wheels, they can be put on a route.
Today, Bailey said, she can only serve people in the city of Newnan and in Senoia. She gets requests for service from residents in the Arnco-Sargent area. She'd love to be able to serve those people, but she doesn't have the funding, or the volunteers to run those routes.
Today, the program serves 53 clients, including 14 in Senoia.
Bailey said she has lost four volunteers in the last two and a half months because of high gas prices.
Bailey needs volunteers of all kinds. There are opportunities for people to volunteer one day a week or two days a month, and she'd love to have substitutes who can fill in when needed. Currently, there is a route that needs someone who can volunteer every Tuesday, and another route who needs a volunteer for the first and third Monday of the month. Twelve new volunteers would be perfect.
Gas prices aren't an issue for Wes Lambert, who started volunteering eight or nine months ago, after reading about the program in The Times-Herald.
It's only about 10 miles, he said. Besides, he has a fuel efficient car. Lambert delivers meals on the first, third and fifth Fridays of the month. He usually has Fridays off, and his whole route only takes a little over an hour.
His grandmother got Meals on Wheels in Nashville.
"I just always thought they did good things, so I figured I'd give back," Lambert said.
He gets just about as much as he gives.
"I love it. You get to talk to people. They've got all kinds of wisdom, the older people do," he said.
He usually spends about 10 minutes with each client.
"I get to talk to them for a little bit, they get to vent their problems," he said. It also keeps him abreast of current events.
"If you can't donate money, it's a good way to give back to the community," he said.
Beulah McNair started volunteering for Meals on Wheels way back in 1965. She took several years off, but now she's back, and went full time after retiring from the Meriwether County School System.
"I thoroughly enjoy it, I really do," she said. "You know that you are helping someone. When you see the smiles on their faces, they're so happy to see you..."
Volunteering is very rewarding, McNair said. "This is what the good Lord wants us to do."
Sometimes, she said, it will be raining and she won't really feel like going on her route. "But then you get there, and see them, and you feel so much better," she said. "God has blessed me. Why can't I share it with someone else?"
Becky Peters and Betty Head are part of a team from Cokes Chapel United Methodist Church. Two team members come out each Friday.
Peters and Head went on their third route Friday.
"I've been so blessed, it's a little way of my giving back," Peters said.
"We enjoy every minute of it," said Head. "It gives us a chance to talk as we go down the road, and we feel useful to the community. And we feel good to give back," she said.
Peters said she'd like to volunteer more often. "Seeing the people and how they appreciate it and their smiles" is wonderful, she said. The clients always want to chat, and she said she was amazed that one woman knew she had recently gotten a haircut, even though she'd only been to her house three times.
"It's like anything else. If you just take the time to put into something, you get more out of it than the people you're doing it for," Peters said.
Bailey said she would love to get more churches involved in the program, both with volunteers and with money. The program does get support from several local churches and businesses, but more is needed. Some people choose to sponsor a specific individual, each month. Some groups make continuing monthly donations, and others donate on a yearly basis.
Clients are also offered the opportunity to make donations to cover expenses, though they are by no means expected to. "They have to follow their hearts to give," Bailey said. "Most of the people, they want to give," she said.
Most clients are just unable to cook nutritious meals on their own.
"I don't ever want it to become an obligation to anybody... if they don't give any money, we still serve them," Bailey said. "I sow a seed to make up for those who are not able."
Bailey also accepts donations of toiletries and other items for the clients, and tries to give each one a birthday present.
For more information on Meals on Wheels, contact Bailey at 770-255-9443 or 770-683-8600.
Donations to Meals on Wheels are needed and welcomed. They may be sent to the Council on Aging, 29 Hospital Road, Newnan GA 30263. Checks should be made out to Meals on Wheels.