By Lorraine Bennett
Staff Writer
The service is for people who are housebound. They’re getting a good meal, somebody to say hello, to check on them to make certain they are all right, to see if they are having a decent day.
This description came from Marie Rice, outlining a Clay County program never crossing most people’s minds – until they need it.
Rice is nutrition site manager for Clay County’s Meals on Wheels program, which operates under the watchful eye of its director, Becky Grindstaff.
Of the individuals the program serves, Grindstaff says simply, “These are my people.”
Some dedicated unsung heroes stop by the Clay County Senior Center about 10:30 Monday through Friday mornings. They load their vehicles with pre-packaged meals and head out on one of five pre-arranged routes that could be as near as the town of Hayesville or as far away as Brasstown, Shooting Creek or the Georgia state line.
Some come from the local Catholic Church to drive routes on Mondays. The Episcopal Church sends volunteers on Tuesdays.
“The Methodist Church fills as many as they can but they have dropped some numbers,” Rice said.
The program needs drivers.
“Anybody willing to come in we can use,” Grindstaff explained. “They can do one day a month. Some drive weekly, some only monthly, and some fill in just when we need them. Some drivers are seasonal.”
The qualifications are a valid driver’s license, a working vehicle and a willingness to make the commitment. Runs generally take an hour. The longest run is nearer two hours. Drivers reach all of Clay County.
The people they serve are 60 years or older, and housebound. There is no income restriction. Drivers pick up hot and cold meals that generally include a meat, a vegetable or two, fresh fruit or a fruit cup, bread and milk.
A sample meal from the June menu included turkey tetrazzini, green beans with red pepper, glazed carrots, chocolate pudding, a dinner roll and milk.
A sample meal from July includes fried fish fillet, loaded potato casserole, coleslaw, hush puppies, a fresh orange and milk. Another sample meal offers roast pork, pinto beans, turnip greens, peach crisp, cornbread and milk.
The July Fourth weekend meal, offered cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and onion, baked beans, coleslaw, watermelon cubes and milk.
“Sometimes it’s not what people like, and some meals they can’t eat, but most people like it,” Rice said.
“Apple cobbler is the best thing they like, and the pork chops,” Grindstaff said. “We can give them a menu. That way the people being served will know what to expect.”
The meals are prepared by the Skillet. Most of the hot food is cooked at the Clay County Jail. Rice also picks up boxes from the Clay County Food Pantry every Friday morning. These boxes include canned goods, sometimes frozen meats and other items to help people balance out their groceries at home.
A family with four or more individuals receives two boxes of food. Households of one to three members get one box. The menu combinations are designed by a registered dietitian.
The program currently serves about 80 people, although the numbers fluctuate. Meals on Wheels has served as many as 100 recipients.
The program is funded 90 percent with state and federal dollars, with 10 percent coming from Clay County. Meals on Wheels also accepts donations if people are willing and able to pay, and some recipients want to, Grindstaff said.
“One little lady gave us a dollar every time. Sometimes it was ten dimes. A lot are so thankful to get it they want to do something,” she said.
A volunteer remembers a recipient who wrote out an occasional check for $5.
The senior center also serves hot meals right on its Ritter Road premises. Lunch numbers may vary from only two to a dozen or more people. Participation was higher before the COVID epidemic, which forced the on-site meals program to close in 2020 but it reopened in 2021.
What is in short supply for the program just now is not food, or funds, but drivers. Grindstaff has been running radio and newspaper ads and pleading on Facebook for more volunteers to serve the group she calls “my people.”
The work is rewarding and non-strenuous. Volunteers drop by the senior center and pick up insulated bags containing pre-packaged meals for recipients on their route. Volunteers on a recent route, the Tusquittee run, delivered 14 meals at 11 stops and covered 28 miles from 10:36 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Recipients on this particular route included the bedridden and the frail elderly;
Residents who are absent from their residence can still receive the meals by leaving a cooler or other receptacle to secure the food.
“Hamburgers for the Fourth!” enthused a delighted recipient as she met the volunteer at the front door. Her smile delivered her gratitude: she was home-bound and happy somebody had cared enough to stop by with good food, a warm smile and a checkup to see that a fellow human being was well fed and having a decent day.
For more information on Meals on Wheels and to volunteer as a driver, call the Clay County Senior Center at 828-389-9271.