SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) Meals on Wheels of Syracuse needs volunteer help.
As fall comes around the non-profit organization is experiencing a volunteer shortage, which has caused concern for the organization’s daily operation.
Since 1959 Meals on Wheels has delivered in Syracuse. The organization has also delivered to Skaneateles and other neighboring towns within Onondaga County. In 2020 the non-profit organization was designated as an essential service for both the state of New York and Onondaga County. By 2021 Meals on Wheels had delivered around 200,000 nutritional meals and since then has only grown beside the emerging city of Syracuse.
Meals on Wheels currently has 450 active members who help deliver 150 different routes. The organization delivers 30 routes a day. With every delivery, the clients of Meals on Wheels of Syracuse get both a nutritious meal and a meaningful interaction. Meals on Wheels Fund Development Community Relations Director Mary Beth Anderson says that the organization is vital for the community.
“If were not here you got all the individuals who will not have their meals. We do 900 meals a day, so that’s a lot of food and then we make sure they have enough to get them through the weekends. So I don’t know where these folks will be without Meals on Wheels,” said Anderson
In 2022, 49% of its clients were between the ages of 60 to 74 years old. Another 23% were between the ages of 75 to 84 years old and 18% of its clients were 85 years old and above. Just 10% of the organization’s clients were 59 years old and below.
“A Woman the other day told me that Meals on Wheels saved her life, and she in kidney failure. She had kidney failure, stage three kidney failure. If it wasn’t for our food service she wouldn’t have survived COVID.” said Anderson.
Meals on Wheels wants to supply the community with nutritious meals and interactions as warm as the food that is served. To them, it’s about more than what is served on the plate.
“Even more important is visiting that person they’re isolated and alone. I’ve been out and visited people and they’ve been like nobodies talked to them, nobodies talk them for the entire day. They don’t have family in the area. It is really important and makes a huge difference,” said Anderson.
For 61 years, Meals on Wheels has operated throughout Syracuse, and for all of those 61 years, the organization has looked to fill more than the void left in the communities’ stomach but the void left in their hearts.
