Meals on Wheels says demand isn’t waning, but volunteers are

During the coronavirus pandemic, Meals on Wheels Orange County, the county’s largest nonprofit senior nutrition and supportive service provider, doubled its output from 1 million to 2 million meals annually.

But while the worst days of the coronavirus have passed, the number of meals being delivered to home-bound seniors has barely declined, said Darla Olson, the nonprofit’s vice president of advancement.

And with many former volunteers returning to work, the nonprofit urgently needs people to sign up to continue supporting the older adults in the community who still need help receiving their meals, Olson said.

Meals on Wheels OC, which serves 20 cities in central and North Orange County, is projecting to serve 1.8 million meals in 2022, yet, Olson said, the number of volunteers has dropped from 600 before the coronavirus to 400 currently.

“We still have long lines at our grab-and-go pick up locations. Everybody is struggling with the need for staff and that has extended to volunteers,” she said. “Many of our volunteers are older adults themselves.”

Volunteers can opt to deliver meals to homebound seniors or support the drive-thru program, Olson said.

Drivers are typically asked to make eight stops a day, between 9 and 11 a.m., on an assigned route that takes from an hour to 90 minutes to complete.

For the grab-and-go program, volunteers help package, sort and hand out frozen meals at local senior centers.

There is a waiting list that would warrant additional delivery routes, Olson said, but the meal service won’t open a new route until there are enough volunteers to service the current ones.

In the meantime, Meals on Wheels must refer those wanting meals to other programs and food banks, and do whatever it takes to service current recipients, Olson said.

Volunteers typically work one day, but some have agreed to pick up extra routes, and staff members are also making deliveries.

“Without (Meals on Wheels), I would literally starve,” said Deborah Buschette, 69, of Garden Grove, who has been a client for five years because of severe health issues. “I don’t have the ability to make my meals anymore, nor do I have the ability to go out and get meals.”

Buschette also said she wouldn’t be able to afford her medications if she wasn’t receiving the free meals.

For Buschette and many other Meals on Wheels clients, the volunteer delivering their meals is the only human contact they have.

“I don’t see anybody besides them,” Buschette said. “They’ve really done a lot for me.  It’s just comforting to know that there are people who are that selfless.”

Meals on Wheels also provides Buschette with a “friendly caller,” who calls her once a week and chats for about an hour.

Jim Dwyer 75, of Westminster has been a Meals on Wheels volunteer for 20 years, originally signing up after seeing how difficult it was to find a meal delivery service for his elderly parents in Arizona.

He has been delivering meals on Thursdays for 20 years and often serves a second day when other volunteers aren’t available on their assignments.

Dwyer, who still works as a realtor, has also taken on extra shifts because of the shortage of volunteers.

“My health is good so I am able to help,” the Air Force veteran said. “There might be a day down the road that I am going to need some assistance like this, and I hope that someone who is younger than me now may think about that and say, ‘I can do this when I retire and help someone else.’ So, I pay it forward by helping now.”

While the clients are always happy to see Dwyer when he shows up at their door with a meal, the gratitude goes both ways.

“It is very gratifying to see a smile on someone’s face when you come,” Dwyer said. “It brings a little sunshine to their day that they maybe wouldn’t have if we weren’t there.”

For information on volunteering with Meals on Wheels, go to mealsonwheelsoc.org

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