NORWICH – The people at Meals on Wheels are busy. Drivers, prep-staff and packers alike breeze through each morning, hustling at their work stations and in their cars, zipping around to make sure 100 seniors in the Norwich area have a nutritious meal.
It’s usually only a quick hello followed by a quick exchange. But the smiles that began in the kitchen of the First Baptist Church on West Park Place always make their way to the front doors, living rooms and senior centers where appreciative elders await their daily visitor.
“They are really nice people,” said volunteer driver Deb Tobey. “You really feel good about it.”
Tobey, along with several other drivers and kitchen volunteers, arrange and deliver roughly 70 meals in and around Norwich, serving 30 more people on site at the community center in the downtown church.
Chenango County Meals on Wheels Director Trudy Irons said the benefits of the service are far-reaching and multifaceted.
“This allows seniors to remain independent,” Irons said. “And their nutrition is so important.”
Irons said the volunteers’ desire to help others is often reciprocated by the clients, whose influence on the volunteers is equally beneficial.
“The drivers love the clients who receive the meals, and the clients really love them,” she said. “It’s rewarding for the drivers.”
In some cases the drivers are the only contact the clients will see in a day, and their drop-offs double as a check-up to make sure everything is OK.
Twenty-year volunteer driver George Zieno said the feelings toward clients are a little bit like those one would hold for a family member.
“The only thing I don’t like about it is when they go to a nursing home or they go to heaven,” said the 82-year-old Zieno. “I kind of miss them.”
Most of the Meals on Wheels volunteers are retired, and they agree that the program has a dual role, helping both themselves and others.
“I love it because everybody is friendly and it’s a busy place,” said kitchen volunteer Violet Glave, who’s been on the job just under a year. “This is necessary for some senior citizens, we’d like more to come (on site).”
“I got tired of looking at four walls,” said fellow kitchen aide Irene Saxby, who is on her second tour in the program. “So I came back.”
Three-year driver Don LaFever said he volunteers because he feels strongly about ensuring nutritious outlets for people, and he hopes others will ensure that for him when he grows in age.
“I might be older someday,” LaFever said. “And I may need someone to serve meals to me.”
Meals on Wheels is always looking for volunteers to provide meals for area citizens each day, which include hot and cold entrees and frozen meals delivered on Fridays for the weekend. The program is offered throughout the county and within Norwich there are roughly eight routes. It is offered through the Chenango County Area Agency on Aging, located at the County Office Building on 5 Court St. in Norwich.
People interested in volunteering, or those looking for more information, should call 337-1770. The Norwich operations site is located at the First Baptist Church adjacent to the county courthouse on West Park Place.