Meals On Wheels is facing a shortage of delivery drivers amid stronger-than-normal demand for the organization’s service.
Meals on Wheels is a program that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The organization operates throughout the country with a mission to address senior hunger and isolation.
“I started thinking about the number of people that can’t prepare a meal,” said Carolyn Miles, a former American Airlines mechanic and volunteer delivery driver for Meals on Wheels.
“They could’ve had some kind of physical injury or stroke, heart attack or whatever, or they just might not have the money to put a nutritious meal on the table,” she continued.
Miles has been picking up extra shifts to help with the surge in demand and hopes to encourage individuals to join in and volunteer for the community-based organization.
“It takes up so little time and it’s so rewarding,” said Miles.
Demand for Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County has seen explosive growth over the last several weeks. Due to the swell of demand, volunteer drivers have been unable to provide full service to all those who need it.
There are “seventeen open routes currently,” said Philip Gonzalez of Tarrant County Meals on Wheels. “It’s difficult when you know there are people out there that need these meals” and rely on the program, he said.
Volunteers have been stepping up the effort to meet the demand, according to Gonzalez.
“We have people who do two routes, but because of the need, they are doing three, four, I hate to say, sometimes five days a week, said Gonzalez.
The Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County notes on their website that “help is needed to deliver meals to people in need in your neighborhood. Volunteers typically deliver meals only one day per week, Monday-Friday between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.”
If you would like to volunteer, call 817-336-0912, or you can go to the Meals on Wheels website.