By: Julieta Hernandez Artwork: AdCouncil.org
A fondness for your neighbor is a tell-tale sign of a bountiful community. In the Coastal Bend’s little chunk of Meals on Wheels’ overall impact, these ready meals symbolize becoming a tight-knit social fabric that supports the senior demographic.
For the home-bound elderly community, this can mean a great help in maintaining a proper diet. The lengths this program will go, both physically and metaphorically, covers the distance.
Where neighborly kindness is needed the most, the Meals on Wheels program pushed its nutritionally balanced meals to from five to seven days a week with the help of a generous grant from H-E-B. Yes, the super-chain has done it again; providing aid for emergency relief meals, the $30,000 grant ensures weekend meals for the elderly community.
In addition to expanding the program’s distribution schedule, hygiene packs are also being delivered to the citizens receiving these meals. These include soap, toilet paper, and shampoo; necessities that could be dangerous to shop for during the COVID-19 recovery.
The program will typically cater to adults 60 and over, but is flexible depending on different situations. Living assisted or unassisted can prove to be a challenge for mature residents, but we’re all neighbors nonetheless. While no seniors are turned away, the payment for the service is based on a sliding fee scale from free to full cost. However, the Meals on Wheels program itself is a non-profit and thrives on the help of its volunteers.
A delivered hot plate isn’t really the whole picture here. The Meals on Wheels program, unpacked, represents an outstretched hand to the elderly community in the Coastal Bend area – who, beyond a good meal, deserve a daily check-in to say hello and a watchful eye.
The City of Corpus Christi’s senior services team up with helpful volunteers to make this happen. It all starts with an application; a good driver with a kind smile and time to spare has the power to become a staple in someone’s life. With great demand comes those who deliver, and anyone is welcome to apply. You can become a Meals on Wheels volunteer by calling the local office here at (361) 826-3150.
Over the last two months, we’ve seen countless versions of this very idea – that coming together in a time of need is the only way to persevere. We must remember to bring everyone along with us in the attempt to work past these uncertain times.
