For some senior citizens, getting around the house to make food for themselves just isn't as simple as it used to be. Meals on Wheels ensures that seniors still get the nutrition that they need.
Kim Thiel-Schaaf, director of Aging Services for Cascade County, said they are currently serving over 400 meals daily.
“This particular program is for people that are homebound primarily, so if they can't fix their own meals [or] they're having trouble buying food, they're considered nutritionally at risk,” Thiel-Schaaf said. “When we put them on services, if they score high enough that way, we also take two extra frozen meals out on Friday.”
Aging Services provides several different options for senior citizens in Cascade County. Meals on Wheels is one of the services that supports seniors who may need the extra help.
“Currently serving about 400 a day during the day, and then there's about another 20 to 30 that we take out on Fridays.”
Oftentimes, seniors are alone in their home and might not get very much social interaction, which can be hard especially during the holidays. Meals on Wheels not only delivers food to them but also aims to check in on them and form a relationship with their clients.
“I have five paid employees that deliver, but they also have on any given day about seven or eight volunteers. They have a wonderful cadre of about 30 volunteers total that help with that. We prepare the meals at six in the morning, the cook starts and then by 8:30, we do what we call packaging or serving, and we have volunteers to help us put all that in the trays. We seal them up in little heat-sealed trays; we bring to your door, and they go out by usually ten, ten thirty in the morning.”
They are always needing more volunteers to help during the week.
“We are pretty much always looking for volunteers; one of the things I really need help with right now is kitchen help and that’s every day at 8:30 to 10:30, they don't have to do every single day. The days I’m hurting on right now are Thursdays and Fridays, so if there's anybody that's got some time from Thursday to Friday, from 8:30 to 10:30, they can sign up.”
To sign up to be a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, contact Thiel-Schaaf at 406-454-6990 or visit their website by clicking here.
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