HANCOCK COUNTY — When Darrell Lee rang the doorbell, the man inside had a surprise ready for him.
Lee, a Meals on Wheels volunteer retired from a long career in the automotive industry, exclaimed over a classic car magazine.
Lee and his client share not only careers in the automobile industry but also years of service in the military, and those parallels provide the two plenty to talk about every week when the volunteer swings by to drop off meals.
Some clients, like Lee’s, request their services as much for the company as the cooking. Others simply can’t provide for themselves.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryMeals on Wheels of Hancock County served nearly 2,000 more meals to seniors in 2017 than in 2016, an increase leaders said illustrates the rising needs of senior citizens in the community.
In 2016, volunteers served more than 21,400 meals to county residents, while that number rose to more than 23,000 in 2017, said executive director Kathleen Vahle. Some 500 of those meals reflect the addition of a weekend meal program, but the remainder represents an increase in weekday meals served to clients, she said.
At least 8 percent of households with seniors age 65 and older struggled with food insecurity last year, according to Feeding America, a nationwide network of food pantries. As the Baby Boomer generation ages and begins to enter retirement, the number of seniors struggling with hunger is expected to rise by 50 percent by 2025, Feeding America states.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people age 65 and older in Hancock County has increased from 12.8 percent in 2010 to 15.6 percent in 2016. Agencies serving people in need in Hancock County have seen a steady increase of seniors needing help as well.
At the Hancock County Food Pantry, the number of families served typically ebbs and flows with the state unemployment rate, said pantry president Tom Ferguson in 2017.
But client households including people age 65 and older has steadily risen, from about 16 percent of the client base in 2008 to as high as nearly 30 percent in 2014, records show.
In 2017, about one in every four families included someone 65 or older, Ferguson said. But that will only compound as the Baby Boomer generation ages, Ferguson said.
Hunger is but a part of the problem facing area seniors, said Vahle, who also serves as the vice chairwoman of the Hancock County Council on Aging. Leaders of area organizations serving seniors have noticed increased risks of isolation, especially among older generations that don’t have family.
It’s why they encourage their volunteers to take a moment to talk with clients if they seem lonely or detached.
“The clients we’re serving need social interaction,” she said.
Volunteers with the organization are trained to spend a little time visiting with their clients, said Marie Felver, who has volunteered with Meals on Wheels for some five years through a group called Charity Chicks.
“It’s very rewarding on both sides,” she said. “I may only deliver meals once a month, but providing them the smile they might need for the day … seeing how that cheers them up is a rewarding experience.”
While Meals on Wheels of Hancock County has a dedicated volunteer corps, the need for more help remains, especially for routes in the western part of the county, Vahle said.
Vahle compared the organization’s needs to those of a church: while there are plenty of ushers, someone is still needed to sing in the choir, she said.
And it’s almost as easy to receive meals as it is to volunteer.
The only requirement to sign up for Meals on Wheels is a prescription from the individual’s physician, specifying diet requirements and a need for meals, according to the Meals on Wheels of Hancock County website. There are no age or income restrictions, Vahle said.
For $7.50 per client per day, Meals on Wheels delivers a hot lunch with an entrée, vegetable, milk, dessert and bread, and an evening cold sack dinner containing a sandwich, salad, dessert, juice or milk. A year of meals costs roughly the same as one day in the hospital, Vahle said.
And just a quick visit, even to drop off a meal, can make a difference, experts say.
That friendly interaction is often as important to isolated individuals as other services they might be provided, said Teasa Thompson, executive director of Hancock County Senior Services.
