The Habersham County Senior Center has struggled to find volunteers for their Meals on Wheels program, which provides food to senior citizens who cannot go out and get the food they need on their own.
Habersham County Meals on Wheels Program Specialist Teri Lewis says that the program lost around 20 volunteers last year due to COVID-19, and finding new volunteers has been a struggle. But ever since Meals on Wheels reached out to their Habersham community for help, Lewis says several people have joined the program with four new volunteers “in the works.”
“We are getting the gaps covered, but we never know who will drop off at any given time due to life changes,” Lewis tells Now Habersham. “It takes a bit to get started as they have to go through a background check and fingerprinting, orientation and route training so a steady trickle is a good thing.”
While these new volunteers and applicants are adding to the program’s essential volunteer force, Meals on Wheels still needs more help. Each month, Meals on Wheels delivers 3,500 meals, with six daily delivery routes and two additional frozen meal delivery routes.
Habersham County’s Meals on Wheels program currently delivers food to about 160 senior citizens, who otherwise wouldn’t have a meal. For many of these seniors, their interactions with Meals on Wheels volunteers are some of the only social interactions they get, making deliveries even more important.
Anyone over 18 years old who wants to get involved with Meals on Wheels should contact the Habersham County Senior Center at (706) 839-0260 and ask to speak with the volunteer coordinator. Volunteers will be required to undergo a background check and fingerprinting, which costs $47.50— the fee is optional for volunteers to pay.
Volunteers use their own vehicles and gasoline to complete deliveries.
