Staff, volunteers take meals, build relationships with residents
Amanda York and Oglethorpe County Senior Center volunteers filled their van with meals and goodies on a recent Tuesday. They drove off with a plan to drop off meals to residents ages 60 and up all across the county.
Their first stop was in Crawford, where Annie Carr received a meal and made sure they knew she appreciated the delivery.
“You know I love you,” Carr said.
The Senior Center’s partnership with Open Hand Atlanta helps the organization provide nutrition to homebound residents of the county every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. York, who is the home delivery meals coordinator, is one of several Senior Center staff and volunteers who deliver meals.
“It’s a great program, and we would really like to put it out there in communities to let people know that it’s available to them,” assistant director Christy Kerns said. “It doesn’t cost them anything.”
York’s day begins by loading the meals from the freezer into cooler bags. After she puts them into the van, she begins her journey across the county. Through her deliveries, York is able to build lasting relationships.
“They are like family to us,” she said.
York has set up a driving schedule for each day to make sure that residents are given a package of food that will provide them with at least one meal a day. She must deliver the food within 90 minutes to comply with food safety guidelines.
“On days I don’t feel like cooking, these are beneficial,” said Cathy Johnson, who lives on Comer Road.
Volunteer Delsia Summerall, a recent Oglethorpe County High School grad, has built relationships with the residents throughout her summer working with the center.
“I really like helping people, so it’s great,” she said.
The center makes sure to provide at least one meal a day to participants, but residents can qualify for up to three meals a day.
“Our goal is to make sure that they get nutritious, healthy meals that are tailored to their medical needs,” Senior Center director Corie Robinson said. “All of our meals are heart healthy, diabetic friendly and easy to open, package-wise, so for those who have arthritis or any other medical condition that makes it hard for them to open packages, have them packaged in an easy way.”
Not only is the center in search of more volunteers, it’s also on the lookout for more home-delivery clients to add to the 21 it serves.
“We know that there are underserved people here in our community we haven’t reached yet,” Robinson said.