CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – As our area continues to grow, the number of elderly and disabled citizens that need help is also growing. The local chapter of Meals on Wheels is in urgent need of more volunteers to prepare and deliver food to those seniors.

Meals on Wheels is part of the Mid-Cumberland Human Resource Agency and serves 13 counties in Middle Tennessee. Locally, close to 500 seniors receive a lunch meal each weekday in Montgomery County alone.

Sharon McDaniel, the Mid-Cumberland community engagement director for Meals on Wheels, said their volunteers are the lifeblood of the program, and they are always in need of more people to prepare the food and especially to deliver the lunch meals.

She said each meal is healthy and consists of a meat, two vegetables, bread, dessert and milk. The food is picked up at one of the two meal preparation sites in the county around 10:30 a.m. and delivered by the volunteers Monday-Friday.

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“For many of our seniors, about half of them live alone, so that volunteer may be the only person they see on a daily basis. We always ask them how they are doing because we see them every day; it’s like a daily well-being check, McDaniel said.

McDaniel added that one of the favorite comments they hear back from volunteers is that they are not just providing physical nourishment, but also emotional nourishment.

Other ways to help

Kitchen help is also needed to prepare meals on weekday mornings from 8:30-10 a.m. at the meal sites in Clarksville. McDaniel said volunteers can help out once a week, every other week, once a month, or whenever works best for their schedule.

McDaniel emphasized that along with an urgent need for volunteers, there is a waiting list for seniors hoping to be served by Meals on Wheels. Montgomery County has the highest waiting list in the counties of Mid-Cumberland Meals on Wheels.

The organization also accepts monetary donations and is working to take those people in need off their waiting list for meals and are hoping to raise enough funds and to get enough volunteers to have a zero waiting list.

To find out more about Mid-Cumberland Meals on Wheels, to volunteer, or make a donation, visit mchra.com/meals-on-wheels, email Sharon McDaniel at smcdaniel@mchra.com or call 615-850-3910.

Giving Grace, sponsored by Grace Dental, is a Clarksville Now series showcasing local nonprofit organizations.

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