Meals on Wheels seeks volunteer drivers, helpers
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Elkins Meals on Wheels volunteers Henry Nefflen and Jessica Shourds load up a car for delivery to clients. The organization is currently seeking volunteers to help with the program.
ELKINS -- Come wind, rain, sleet or snow, the Elkins Meals on Wheels organization delivers quality meals across the Elkins area five days a week, including holidays.
The program, which began back in 1973 delivering to seven clients, operates out of the Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church on Randolph Avenue and today has close to 80 clients.
Meals on Wheels officials say they are pleased by how much its clientele has grown over the years. However, with more customers there comes a bigger need for volunteers, and the organization is currently seeking help in this capacity.
"We are kind of putting out a call for help because we really, really need volunteers," Mandy Weirich, Meals on Wheels Board president, told The Inter-Mountain Wednesday. "We need people who can help whenever their schedule allows them to do so. It can be one day a week, or one day a month, it doesn't matter. We will allow them to do whatever fits best for them."
The only requirements to become a Meals on Wheels volunteer driver is to have a good operating vehicle and a valid driver's license and to be at least 18 years of age. A runner -- someone who takes the food from the vehicle to residents -- doesn't need a license to be part of the team.
In 2020, volunteers logged 3,475 hours of time and helped deliver more than 18,000 meals Weirich said the volunteers are the most important part of the program.
"We wouldn't have Meals on Wheels if it wasn't for the volunteers," she said. "Except for our office staff we are 100 percent volunteer-based. We're not paid by the state or anyone else, it's all volunteers. So without them, we would have no Meals on Wheels."
The volunteer drivers use their own vehicles to deliver the meals, which are prepared by Davis Medical Center at cost. Each meal is catered to a specific individual's needs and diet. Drivers and runners have protocols in place to protect both themselves and the clients against COVID-19.
"The most difficult thing during the pandemic is that we don't get to visit with the clients," said Weirich, who also works as a volunteer driver. "As soon as the pandemic started we immediately had protocols in place. Before COVID we might go inside, say a few words, and visit a little bit. Now we just kind of meet them at the door and keep our distance because we want to protect our clients -- they are the most vulnerable."
To qualify for Meals on Wheels individuals must be at least 60 years old or have a disability. The cost for the meals is based on income versus expenses. The most any individual will pay is $4.
Most of the funding for the organization, which goes toward the purchase of the meals and three employees, comes from grants. The organization has also received help in the past from the Randolph County Commission, the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services and the United Way, as well as from private individual donors and businesses.
"We are not generating any money, so we really rely on the generosity of businesses, the government and individuals," Weirich said.
Anyone interested in volunteering to be a driver or runner for Meals on Wheels may call 304-636-4919 for more information.