Meals on Wheels is short on wheels
Imagine an elderly person who doesn't leave his home most days. They might get a visit or a phone call from a caregiver or family member only once a day.
The rest of the time, they're home alone.
Meals on Wheels volunteers help folks like this across the area, delivering hot meals every day. It's a bright visit in many otherwise lonely lives.
Currently the program is spread too thin because they need more volunteer drivers, North Valley Senior Center Site Manager Roxy Larsen said last week.
Ideally the route is done in two trips, Larsen said.
But right now, it's being handled as one long route, primarily by two staunch volunteers.
Pattie and Don Dorlarque are doing a lot of the driving. After two and a half years of volunteering as drivers, they've taken on the entire route of 25 clients. They deliver to residences on North Fork Road south to Columbia Falls Stage Road.
It takes them about two hours from the time they help the servers pack the lunches to when they finish the route. The recipients have to be within five miles of the center to qualify for delivery. The food has to be delivered in a specific time frame to meet food safety standards.
The Dorlarques are delivering to an unusually long route this season, with about 10 more clients than usual. It will be even more challenging as winter approaches. Usually the route increases by about 10 seniors when it is more difficult for them to leave their home. Winter roads make the delivery longer as well, Larsen noted.
Larsen hopes to get at least two or three more volunteers. She prefers to have two volunteers on each route. If there is an emergency with a client, it is helpful to have one stay behind while the other goes for help.
The secondary, though unofficial role of the Meals on Wheels volunteers is to check on the wellness of the client. If they notice a change in the client they tell Larsen, who can contact family to suggest a visit. She said it helps out family and friends to have a second check on their loved ones.
Larsen provides networking between the senior citizens, volunteers, family and the Flathead County Agency on Aging. It is an important circle of communication to protect the well-being of the homebound seniors.
"Our drivers get very attached to the people," Larsen said. "If somebody doesn't want a meal, they want to know why, 'why aren't we seeing this one today.'"
Since delivery is in the middle of the day, volunteers are hard to come by, she said. People shouldn't be afraid to come in and try it out once, she said.
Volunteers are trained, reimbursed for miles driven and receive a free meal.
Working with senior citizens is not for everyone and that's OK, she said. The volunteer has to have a meaningful and rewarding experience for it to last.
"The hard part is getting people to realize they're just older people than us," she said. "Some of us grow up with our grandparents, and great uncles, but some of them (volunteers) haven't."
Larsen has seen many types of successful volunteers: home school mothers and their children, grandparents and their grandchildren, retired couples and students completing volunteer requirements.
The Flathead County Agency on Aging kitchen in Kalispell prepares meals based on health standards and county regulations, Larsen said. The meals are sent out to Bigfork, Lakeside, Whitefish and Columbia Falls. It's usually the client's main meal of the day and includes potato, meat, vegetables, fruit and a roll. They come in microwavable plastic trays or foil containers.
The program helps senior citizens stay in their homes, rather than a nursing home or other facility.
"We're trying to keep them safe in their homes for as long as we can," Larsen said.
Interested people can call the nutrition staff at the Flathead County Agency on Aging at 758-5711 or call Larsen at 892-4087. The senior center in Columbia Falls is open Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.