Meals on Wheels - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

27 September 2007 — Some will get up and meet you at the door. Others will be waiting on the couch with the front door open. But all of those who receive Meals on Wheels are helped by the program, said Janet Davis, who delivers meals twice a month in Pikeville.

Janet is one of handful of citizens who volunteer their time to help out those who can’t get around to make themselves a healthy meal. The Meals on Wheels program is a strong public service, but lately the area programs have needed more help.

The Meals on Wheels program has been delivering meals to citizens of Pikeville for almost ten years. In Fremont, the program has been going strong for almost twenty. And even though the program has dedicated volunteers in both towns, Andrea Bone of WAGES says that both towns need more volunteers.

She explained that many who run delivery routes in the area are elderly themselves, and sometimes unexpectedly have to give up their deliveries because of their own health, leaving open slots.

Andrea says that, though she works at the WAGES office, she has had to take routes in Pikeville recently because there weren't enough volunteers.

"I don't mind doing it, because I know most of the people on the route, but it's really an opportunity for someone in the community to volunteer," she said.

There are two delivery routes in both Pikeville and Fremont, which serve a total of about 20 people in each community. Currently, there are 20 people on the Fremont routes and 16 people on the Pikeville routes. That means each of the routes serves a maximum of 10 people.

Smaller routes, Andrea said, means that volunteering to do a Meals on Wheels route is a small time commitment, taking anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

She said that volunteering to deliver meals has traditionally been an ideal service project for retired people or stay-at-home parents, because they have the time to devote to the project. But with the current small routes in Pikeville and Fremont, she added, people who work in the area could easily volunteer to do the route on their lunch hour.

"People who work in Fremont and Pikeville could definitely take 30 minutes to do one route, and still be back at work in time," she said.

Though most of the current volunteers commit to both routes in each town, volunteers can sign up to do just one route if that's all their time allows. Even volunteering to do one route once a month would help the program tremendously, said Andrea.

Delivery begins at 11:15 in both towns. The food is prepared earlier at the WAGES center in Goldsboro by a dietician. The meals are then loaded into a van and delivered to drop-off points. In Pikeville, the food is dropped off at town hall, while Fremont meals are delivered to Fremont United Methodist Church.

Volunteers then load up the meals into their vehicles and deliver them to citizens who have signed up to receive meals.

Andrea adds that for many, the meal delivery service offers more than just a hot lunch. Many on the route are shut-ins or have limited mobility, and the weekly delivery allows them to visit with new people. In addition, the delivery serves as a security check.

"If we find that anyone isn't at home when we deliver, we contact their children or neighbors to check on them," Andrea said. "It provides a security check for people. If they didn't have it, something could happen and no one would know for days."

The routes in both towns stay close to the city limits, and volunteers are provided with precise directions to each house on the route.

Volunteers can sign up as frequently as they feel they can, said Andrea, but every little bit helps. Individuals or civic organizations can volunteer to deliver meals.

To volunteer, contact WAGES at 580-1790.

"The only way we can keep it going is to have volunteers," said Andrea, noting that the towns could use a coordinator for the program if someone was willing to volunteer for that role as well.

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