Meals on Wheels People
• To find out how to volunteer for Meals on Wheels People or to sign up to receive the service, go to www.mealsonwheelspeople.org or call 866-788-6325.
As Vancouver City Councilor Larry Smith drives to the next home, he accurately predicts what the resident will be doing when he arrives.
One gentleman will be in his front room, knitting. Another will have just gotten out of bed. A woman will be in her garage, the door up, watching television.
If clients on Smith’s route have any idea they are getting a visit from a member of the City Council once a week, they don’t let on. They don’t ask about stop signs or sidewalks or any of the other city services councilors frequently hear about from taxpayers. Smith said it’s never even come up.
Instead, they accept a plate of lunch and carton of milk and let Smith go on his way.
For the past three years, Smith, 71, has driven a weekly route for Meals on Wheels People. He’s one of hundreds of volunteers the organization relies on daily to help prepare and deliver 5,000 meals, five days a week, to residents in Clark County and Multnomah and Washington counties in Oregon.
Smith serves on the board of directors for Meals on Wheels People, which used to be called Loaves & Fishes. He mentioned at the Dec. 15 council meeting that the organization always needs new volunteers.
At west Vancouver’s Luepke Center, where Smith picks up meals for his clients, a schedule shows that routes have been adopted by Clark County government employees, Columbia Credit Union, Tidewater Cove Homeowner’s Association, Columbia Credit Union, ARC of Clark County, MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, among others.
The organization’s website lists approximately 100 volunteer teams that drive routes in the three counties.
“We call this our interactive chart,” said Wendy Ely, the manager at the Luepke Center, pointing to where names have been crossed out and added.
She has 12 routes, each driven five times a week, for volunteers.
Meals on Wheels People Executive Director Suzanne Washington, who was appointed by the board of directors in the fall, said when companies or groups adopt routes and employees can take turns driving, it’s not as big of a commitment.
“Meals on Wheels People depends on 500 volunteers every weekday to help serve and deliver meals in the greater metro area,” said Washington. “We absolutely could not accomplish what we do without dedicated volunteers like Larry Smith and others. We have eight locations in Clark County, and volunteer activities are available once a week or once a month. We can accommodate groups as well as corporate teams. In fact, adopting a route is a great way to get employees involved without a huge commitment on the part of individual team members. A company can agree to deliver Meals on Wheels once a week and share the delivering among several employees. Dozens of companies in Clark County have become involved this way and it makes for a great partnership,” she said.
The Portland-based organization had $9.5 million in annual operating expenses in fiscal year 2014, according to financial statements, and has 110 full-time and part-time employees operating 34 dining centers and a central commercial kitchen.
More than 60 percent of its funding comes from donations, although it receives federal assistance through the Older American Act, Medicaid and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The cost to produce each meal is $6.88, and the suggested donation is $3.
In Vancouver, people ages 60 and older can go to the Firstenburg and Luepke centers for a hot lunch on weekdays.
But, as Smith said, many seniors don’t drive, for a variety of reasons.
Smith starts his route at the Luepke Center, where he’ll pick up as many as 15 meals. The week before Christmas, however, he only had a half-dozen stops to make.
Some of his clients talk to him more than others.
“They’ll come to the door, and the thing I ask them, over and over, is, ‘Are you OK?’ You try not to pry into their personal lives too much,” Smith said. “I usually knock on the door twice, then I look through the windows.”
If the lights are off, he’ll presume the person isn’t home. Meals aren’t left outside. Instead, he’ll leave a “Sorry I missed you” card to leave at the door and the client can later call and someone from the Luepke Center will deliver the meal, Smith said. He has a binder for his route that includes clients’ contact information and notes about whether they receive low-sodium meals or can only eat soft foods.
Given the frail condition of many of the clients, if there are any concerning circumstances, an employee from the Luepke Center will follow up.
“We’re conscious about checking on them. Most of them get a meal five days a week,” he said.
Frozen meals for the weekend are delivered on Fridays.
Smith, the city’s former Parks and Recreation director, said Vancouver used to operate Seniors Nutrition And Programs with federal funding, but costs of employees and meals became too expensive. Loaves & Fishes took it over in 2006, then more than two years ago changed its name to Meals on Wheels People.
Smith said it usually takes him about 90 minutes to pick up the food, deliver it and return any undelivered food back to the Luepke Center.
“If you make it too long, you’re not going to have volunteers,” he said, adding that volunteers still tire of paying for gas.
“To hang on to your volunteers, you have to reward them. Otherwise you burn them out,” Smith said.
