By Kathy Chaffin
Salisbury Post
Susan Colosanti’s third-grade class at North Hills Christian School has been making tray favors for Meals on Wheels of Rowan County for about six years.
They’ve made bookmarks and cards, colored pictures and written Bible verses on place cards.
This year, Colosanti wanted her students to get even more involved.
“I wanted them to see someone who was getting the things that we were making,” she says, “and see how much it could brighten their days because third graders don’t have much of a vision outside of the little circle that they live in.
“If they have a face to put to it, it makes more of an impact.”
Colosanti contacted Rita Sims, executive director of Meals on Wheels of Rowan County, at the beginning of the school year and arranged for her class to deliver meals one day every other month. Sims says the students seem to enjoy going out on the school bus and doing their route.
“They’re all excited about giving back,” she says.
Colosanti says she hopes the volunteering will help her students to become more aware of the needs of others “and the simple things they can do that make a difference.”
In addition to delivering meals, the third graders made posters to help promote awareness of Meals on Wheels for the annual, nationwide March for Meals Campaign. Members of the Meals on Wheels board of directors are putting the posters up around the county.
Colosanti says one of the posters features a bus with a different kind of food displayed in each window. “They also drew people carrying boxes up to a house and things like that,” she says.
All of the posters feature the Meals on Wheels slogan: “So no senior goes hungry.”
As part of the March for Meals Campaign, Sims says the Mayors for Meals Day planned for March 19 encourages mayors to ride with volunteers. Last year, 400 mayors helped deliver meals nationwide.
This year, Sims says China Grove Mayor Don Bringle, Cleveland Mayor Jim Brown, Granite Quarry Mayor Mary Ponds and Rockwell Mayor Beau Taylor plan to participate.
Volunteers with Meals on Wheels of Rowan run 27 routes every weekday, delivering an average of 206 meals a day. Sims says the total fluctuates as clients’ needs change.
“Sometimes people go into nursing homes,” she says, “and sometimes, they get to the point where they can’t eat anymore.”
Sims says 98 percent of the clients in Rowan County are 60 and older. The other 2 percent are younger residents with disabilities.
To qualify for Meals on Wheels, people must be homebound and unable to cook for themselves. Sims says seniors who live with children who work during the day may also qualify.
In addition to providing a nutritious meal, she says Meals on Wheels serves as a safety check for people living alone and an opportunity for them to see a friendly face during the day.
Meals on Wheels of Rowan operates on an annual budget of $310,500. Sims says the program is funded by the Rowan County United Way, grants and donations from businesses, churches and foundations.
Even though Meals on Wheels currently has 950 volunteers, Sims says more are needed to cover the routes.
“You need a minimum of 30 a day just to get the meals out,” she says, “and that’s just one person per route. A lot of people like to go in pairs.”
Meals are prepared at three sites ó the Downtowner Restaurant at the Salisbury Elks Lodge, Jimmie’s Restaurant in China Grove and C.J.’s in Cleveland.
For more information on Meals on Wheels of Rowan County, to apply to receive meals or to serve as a volunteer, call the office at 704-633-0352 from 8:30 to 3:30 Monday through Friday. Sims says callers may leave a message at anytime, and a staff member will call them back.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249 or kchaffin@salisburypost.com.