Officials with the Macomb County Office of Senior Services have announced an urgent need for volunteers to support Meals on Wheels. The program, which serves a hot meal to 1,700 homebound seniors every day, needs volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver food to recipients across the county.
“Meals on Wheels offers an invaluable service to some of our most vulnerable residents,” said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel. “Not only does it provide a nutritious meal, there’s a wellness check too to ensure that these individuals are healthy and safe. But none of this would be possible without the support of our volunteers. They bring this program to life.”
Senior Services currently needs 20 volunteers to assist along various routes. Volunteers will also help on routes associated with a new meal site opening at the Fraser Senior Center.
“The new location allows us to serve even more seniors in our community,” said Nicole Urban, program manager, Macomb County Office of Senior Services. “But we need to build up our volunteer infrastructure to really make that possible.”
The new meal site in Frasier will also serve a hot lunch to seniors who wish to sit down and dine while engaging in social activities with their peers. Lunch is offered through the Dining Senior Style program.
“One of our objectives is to increase quality of life for individuals 60 and older in Macomb County,” said Sheila Coté, director, Macomb County Office of Senior Services. “We achieve this with a variety of programming, like our services that address nutrition and well-being. And I want to emphasize how critical volunteers are in those areas. We rely on their service, and we need it now more than ever.”
Currently, the Office of Senior Services oversees 84 routes for the Meals on Wheels program, and each of those routes needs to be filled by a volunteer every day. This requires hundreds of volunteers to ensure all 1,700 seniors served by the program receive their meal.
But more support is needed and the office is asking members of the community to sign up as volunteers. Individuals interested in helping can apply today through the Office of Senior Services at macombgov.org/seniors (select “volunteer”). Duties will include:
- Completing a new volunteer orientation
- Delivering meals two times per month along routes that take approximately 60 minutes to complete
- Routes are driven Monday through Friday at lunchtime (generally delivered between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.)
- Routes can be located close to a volunteer's home or work
- Delivering holiday meals on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, while Emergency Preparedness Packs are delivered twice a year on Saturdays
Individuals with questions can email volunteeer@macombgov.org. To learn more about the Macomb County Office of Senior Services, visit macombgov.org/seniors.
Original source can be found here.
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