Meals on Wheels
“...Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said. "How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. but Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says:'They will eat and have some left over.'" Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.
II Kings 4:42-44
“The ill and elderly who receive these meals are as much in need of a cheery greeting and a kind word as they are of the food we bring. Meals on Wheels provides nourishment for the spirit as well as for the body. And, like any volunteer work – it’s hard to tell whether the giver or the receiver gains more.” These are the words of one Meals on Wheels volunteer.
The Cobb County Meals on Wheels program serves an average of 200 meals per day – or about 50,000 meals per year! Meals are delivered 5 days a week. First Presbyterian Church volunteers deliver on Wednesdays and Fridays between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to homebound seniors in Cobb county. Volunteers usually serve once every six weeks. First Presbyterian Volunteers deliver meals to the Bells Ferry-Canton Road area.
The meals, which must meet FDA requirements, are prepared by one vendor under contract with Cobb County. They are delivered to the central kitchen at 32 Fairground Street, Marietta, GA. At this kitchen the meals are heated, put in insulated containers and then delivered to designated sites. From these sites volunteers take the meals to the homebound client. This could be the only hot meal the client has that day.
An applicant for home delivered meals must be assessed by a Senior Service caseworker to determine need. They must be 60 or older, homebound by reason of illness or incapacitating disability.
Meals on Wheels traces its roots to the London Blitz during WW II, when the Women's Volunteer Service for Civil Defense responded to the constant emergency by preparing and delivering meals to their disadvantaged neighbors. These women also brought refreshments in canteens to servicemen. The canteens came to be known as "Meals on Wheels." The first home delivered program in the US started in Philadelphia in 1954 and has grown into a national program.
If you have interest in working as a Meals on Wheels Volunteer, we need you!
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