CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin joined Kanawha Valley Senior Services in the celebration of a program that has been feeding senior citizens across the community for over 50 years. The event honoring both the Meals on Wheels program and the March for Meals campaign was held at the KVSS headquarters in Charleston on Tuesday.
Meals on Wheels provides home-delivered, nutritious meals to people 60 years and older. The March for Meals campaign is an extension of the program that helps spread awareness of Meals on Wheels every March.
Chief Executive Officer of KVSS, Vicky Foster, said the program has not only been providing seniors with fresh food over the decades it has been in operation, but it also provides them with socialization, well-checks, and just a friendly face while they are homebound.
“Most of the time, the seniors that we have that are homebound, they don’t have family here, they don’t have any contacts outside of their home, our driver is a lot of times the only person that they see in a day,” Foster said.
Tuesday’s event not only marked 50 years of the program being in service, but it comes at a time when 8 out of 10 local Meals on Wheels programs are delivering more meals now than before the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as higher food prices from record inflation.
Chief Operations Officer of KVSS, Melanie Hirst, says they figured up that about 55 more people became a part of the program since January, and its growth since the pandemic has been obvious.
“Since Covid hit, the request for home-delivered meals has skyrocketed, and we thought that would trend down as things started opening back up again but it didn’t, we actually have continued to have more than ever,” said Hirst.
Mayor Goodwin and the Kanawha County Commission has been a big part of the Meals on Wheels program. Similar to what she has done in the past, Goodwin paid a visit to the senior services center on Tuesday to help pack up the meals and accompany the driver and other volunteers en-route to help deliver them.
Goodwin said that the main reason she started volunteering with the program is to connect with the community, adding that as everyone comes out of the Covid-era, making these connections is more important than ever.
“When you go out and when you meet with people and sit down, especially when you break bread, that’s the ultimate connection we have with people, to sit down, look someone in the eyes, and most importantly, to listen,” said Goodwin.
Foster said that they are always looking for volunteers to help out with Meals on Wheels, and to reach out to KVSS if interested.