MOW: A Delivery Needed

Please note that the identity of any characters in this story have been replaced with ficticious names to respect and protect their privacy. 

The exterior of the house is a bit shambled, the interior is excessively cluttered and an unpleasant pungent aroma envelops one the moment the front door is opened.  A bag containing two Styrofoam boxes is passed across the threshold to an elderly man in disheveled attire and sporting a caustic attitude. 

This experience is an anomaly rather than the rule for Meals on Wheels drivers.  The drivers take a moment every so often to complain about the smell and the attitude – but only complaining to the other Meals on Wheels drivers or coordinators, never to the clients themselves or the public.

 What the Meals on Wheels volunteers know is that this client, the one with progressing dementia who refuses his family’s attempts to move him away from his home into an assisted living situation, would not have a nutritious meal this day without this delivery.  The volunteer knows this man who may complain about everything from the timing of the delivery to the preparation of the vegetables is one of God’s People in Need. 

The client is in need of a friendly face and concerned greeting and that is what he gets, Monday through Friday at lunch.  His family, who called last month to ask for help in taking care of this uncle who is getting harder and harder to care for, is relieved to know someone else is giving a hand in making sure he is getting a proper meal mid-day.

So, the volunteers will continue delivering their combination of food and love for as long as it is possible for the client to live as he chooses- alone.  The family will continue care for their uncle as much as he will allow until it becomes impossible for him to remain at home. 

Meals on Wheels is a big part of this team, Bringing God’s People Together to Help God’s People in Need.

If you feel so called, please consider donating or volunteering at a local warm shelter.