Lawrence Meals on Wheels delivers not only tasty dishes but also friendship and joy to its clients.
| 2018 Q2 | story by Bob Luder | photos by Steven Hertzog
Kim Cullis – Executive Director of Meals on Wheels
Nestled inside their modest home in West Lawrence, Georgia Aldridge and her daughter, Kathleen McGee, get by the best they can.
In earlier times, McGee took care of Aldridge, now 92. But these days, as McGee puts it, “the list of things wrong with me can fill a sheet of paper.” So, they take care of each other, as well as the two large cats they’re fostering for a relative while out of the country. Other than McGee sometimes running out to pick up prescriptions, they never leave the house. Perhaps that’s why they leave the glow and warmth of a small Christmas tree in the living room year-round.
It also could explain why they visibly brighten up and smile when the delivery driver from the Lawrence chapter of Meals on Wheels brings them their daily meal a little before noon each day.
“Meals on Wheels is a life-saver for us,” McGee says. “We’re both disabled. So Meals on Wheels has become our main meal of the day. (The delivery drivers) are like angels to us. The volunteers are the only people we see. They’re such bundles of joy, smiles and happiness.”
Aldridge is quick to add, “These Meals on Wheels volunteers are full of compassion and caring. We couldn’t get along without it.”
Since 1970, Meals on Wheels has been providing nutritionally balanced meals to the homebound elderly and/or disabled. The program is designed to help people recovering from a recent illness or hospital stay, anyone with chronic disorders or conditions that make preparing their own meals difficult, and anyone needing assistance improving and/or maintaining overall health. They also assist many families that can’t be home with loved ones and just need someone to check on them daily, and make sure they get a proper meal.
The goal is to allow these people to maintain their independence and stay in their homes as long as possible.
“What we stress is, it’s more than just the meal,” says Kim Culliss, executive director of the Lawrence Meals on Wheels since 2001. “We also provide a free copy of the Lawrence Journal-World. We partner with Trinity [Lutheran Church] Pet Pantry to provide treats, bedding and supplies for pets. Our youngest client is 16; our oldest is 100-plus. We serve all ages.
“The wellness and safety check is a big part of it,” she continues.
What started as six routes and about 30 clients has today grown to 20 routes and 115 to 130 clients served each day. The Lawrence Meals on Wheels chapter enlists the help of more than 150 volunteer drivers who deliver more than 650 meals each week to neighbors in need.
Meals on Wheels purchases food from Lawrence Memorial Hospital. All meals are heart-healthy and diabetic-friendly, and can be specialized to fit needs such as renal, soft, gluten-free and combinations thereof.
Volunteers deliver meals between 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The cost for a Meals on Wheels meal is $4.50, but Culliss is quick to point out that her organization has never turned away anyone in need because they can’t pay. The program, designated a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, receives funding from several sources, including the Older Americans Act, United Way, clients, an annual charity auction and private donations.
Volunteer Carolyn Landgrebe delivers Meals on Wheels
To qualify for Meals on Wheels service, individuals must live within the city limits of Lawrence, be homebound or be a caregiver for an individual who is homebound, be 60 and older with a doctor-ordered dietary need, or be younger than 60 but have a special dietary need that makes them unable to cook or shop for themselves.
“We are the only local home-delivered meal program that delivers to those under 60 years of age,” Culliss explains.
She is proud of the fact that many of her volunteers have been driving and delivering for Meals on Wheels for years. None longer than Carolyn Landgrebe, who’s been a volunteer with the organization as long as it’s existed in Lawrence : 48 years.
Landgrebe says when she and Meals on Wheels started, it was run out of local church pantries, and meals were served on round pie tins and warmed on hot plates. The preparation process has advanced greatly since. Today, she says, meals are vacuum-sealed so the food meant to be eaten hot can be reheated in a microwave. The hot food is split from the cold. Beverages, which typically range from a carton of milk to apple or orange juice, are kept chilled in freezer pouches.
“This is the center for efficiency,” Landgrebe says as she picks up her two pouches full of meals at the Meals on Wheels offices for delivery that day. “I can’t praise the people who work here enough. It’s all just exquisitely organized.”
On one particular warm and windy Friday in mid-April, Landgrebe drove her Toyota Prius to five locations, including the home of McGee and Aldridge, just a short distance east of the Meals on Wheels offices, off of Kasold all the way over to Haskell. Recipients were delivered chicken breast (chopped up for those requesting “soft” meals), mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, a dinner roll and a beverage.
And, while the process has changed over the years, the delivery has not … at least, not for Landgrebe. She rings the bell or knocks, or, depending on instructions she receives before beginning her route, she simply walks in and delivers the meal. “Hello! Meals on Wheels,” she announces, always with a smile. She asks meal recipients how they are and what else they might need, and always spends a few moments just chatting about whatever is on their minds.
She knows it might very well be the only outside company the client has contact with all day.
“I always visit with everybody that brings food in,” says Rhonda Juoni, who lives in a small apartment on the city’s east side. “I’m a rock collector, so everyone wants to look at the new additions to my collection. It’s a joy for me, too.”
Rachel Hunter, who is wheelchair-bound after recently losing much of her right leg, says she’s become close friends with one of her weekly Meals on Wheels deliverers.
“(Meals on Wheels is) maybe not as important to me as some people, because I have a son who lives with me and another roommate,” Hunter says. “But they’re out working all day. And, I really do enjoy the regulars. I’m always the last person on the route, so they can sit down and talk for a while.
“The social part is really nice. I just enjoy meeting people, and I’m so in admiration for people who do this,” she continues.
Landgrebe, who drove her Prius 2,855 total miles delivering meals in 2017, admits she might very well get more out of the experience than the meal recipients.
“When I started, I just volunteered one day a week,” she admits. “Now, it’s five because I’m retired.
“You become very fond of these people, especially now that I have five routes. I consider it a blessing and a gift to be able to do this,” she says. “As long as the good lord lets me see and drive capably, I’ll keep doing it.”
