Community ‘champions’ deliver meals to homebound elderly

ROCKWALL COUNTY, TX (March 23, 2015) Meals On Wheels Senior Services of Rockwall County recently kicked off Community Champions Week as part of the national March for Meals campaign. Several of our community’s champions volunteered to deliver meals to local homebound senior citizens.

Throughout the week of March 15-21, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall, the mayors of Rockwall County, Rockwall County Judge David Sweet and police, fire and EMS members of the county all worked in tandem with many volunteers to deliver hot, nutritious meals to MOWSS’s homebound senior clients and spread the word of the program’s noble cause.

Designed to generate public awareness about senior hunger and isolation and to celebrate the invaluable services provided by the more than 5,000 Meals on Wheels programs across the country, the annual month-long March for Meals campaign also helps recruit new volunteers for MOWSS programs throughout the country and increases fundraising from local businesses and supporters.

However, the Meals On Wheels program goes beyond simply providing nutrition to the homebound elderly by checking to make sure its seniors are staying safe and giving them an opportunity to receive additional resources. Members of the Rockwall and McLendon-Chisholm fire departments not only delivered meals to seniors but also checked the smoke detectors inside their homes, replacing any that were defective and installing new smoke detectors if there weren’t any present.

“Our organization provides not only meal delivery, but information and referrals, benefits counseling, advocacy ombudsman service, caregiver information resources, emergency food boxes, and education to promote wellness,” said Margie Verhagen, executive director of MOWSS of Rockwall County.

Since 1978, MOWSS has brought assistance for those older adults facing health and mobility issues that cause the need for assistance to foster independence regardless of duration of need. The program provides hot, nutritious, noontime meals – over 45,000 a year – and personal contact to homebound elderly in Rockwall County each weekday. Meals are monitored by a licensed dietician following the State Health Services regulations and meeting one-third of the recommended dietary allowance.