Madeline Mitchell is in the trunk of her car packaging food for Meals on Wheels. Every Monday, she spends about two hours driving around Chapel Hill to drop meals off.
The first stop on her route is a nursing home.
“The first thing I have to do, because I have to carry in [nine] meals, is write their name, their apartment number, whether they’re diabetic and what they get,” she said.
When she finishes packing and labeling each meal, she heads in to deliver them. And after doing this route for about a year, Mitchell has the room numbers memorized.
She said being able to do this work is a special blessing for her.
“It’s that kind of touch point that can just make a difference in a person’s life,” Mitchell said. “That there’s somebody that’s gonna show up, be consistent and regular and ask you how you are.”
Every March, Meals on Wheels organizations across the U.S. celebrate March for Meals. Throughout the month, volunteers like Mitchell take community leaders with them on routes to see what Meals on Wheels is about.
Executive Director Rachel Bearman said that while a lot of people may be familiar with Meals on Wheels as an organization, they might not understand all that they do.
“Unless you’re a driver, you don’t really actually get to see the diversity of the aging population in our community in terms of the differing needs of those who are aging,” Bearman said. “And the only way you can really do that is by being on these delivery routes.”
The mission of Meals on Wheels is twofold. The first is literally in the name: delivering meals to provide people with nutritious food.
Joyce Head is one of the people on Mitchell’s Monday route. She said she appreciates Meals on Wheels, because it provides food for her when she isn’t able to do so herself.
“Because I live alone and I’m older, Meals on Wheels always fills in for when I can’t cook and I’m never hungry,” Head said.
Melody Dickinson, another person on Mitchell’s route, said she also has trouble cooking for herself sometimes.
“I have a lot of ailments and accidents with falling out of bed or falling out of my chair and it’s hard for me to cook,” Dickinson said. “And I’m not a very good cook with meats.”
But for her, Meals on Wheels isn’t just about the food that gets delivered. It is also an opportunity for her to socialize — something that has become harder for her to do since the pandemic.
“There are a lot of people in this building, but nobody seems to be coming out and visiting still,” Dickinson said. “They’re afraid that someone might have COVID and bring it in from the outside.”
This social aspect is the other part of Meals on Wheels’ mission.
“Your social emotional wellbeing has a large impact on both your physical and mental health,” Bearman said. “So, in trying to enable people to age in place and do so with dignity and feel connected to community and not feel as isolated in aging. That it really makes a huge difference when you have someone showing up at your door who has a connection to you and just checks in on you.”
And Bearman said the social isolation that we all experienced during the pandemic is a piece of the day-to-day isolation older people might face.
“Our volunteer might be the only human connection or contact they might have that day, particularly in-person,” she said. “That isn’t a result of COVID, that’s just how they’ve been living their life. We’ve all had sort of a taste of that over the past number of years, but that’s sort of what it was like for them before, even more so during and will continue after. So, even that little contact can have an incredible impact on someone’s day.”
Even though March for Meals focuses on bringing community leaders on routes, Bearman said it is also a good time for anyone to get involved. And Mitchell said there is a spot for everyone to make a difference.
“We’ve got volunteers baking, we have volunteers writing all these lovely cards,” Mitchell said. “We have volunteers packing the lunches everyday. We have volunteers driving the routes. We have folks who go out and help organize events for Meals on Wheels. It’s just a great organization.”
Click here for more information on how you can volunteer with Meals on Wheels.
Top photo via Rachel Bearman/Meals on Wheels
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