One Central Illinois meal program helps feed seniors in the community

DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) – You’ve probably had food or groceries delivered right to your doorstep. But for Macon County Meals on Wheels through Catholic Charities, home delivery takes on a different meaning.

“Our mission is to enrich the lives of seniors by providing a nutritious meal that promotes independent living,” Kim Freund, the Meals on Wheels supervisor, said.

The process starts at Decatur Memorial Hospital. Workers prepare meals starting bright and early around five in the morning.

“The cook starts cooking the hot food and then we start the prep for the cold sacks for them,” Donald Gabhart, the patient service suprevisor at the hospital, said. “Then we label each bag and follow the therapeutic diets for them.”

Workers fill trays with different food. Once they’re sealed, they get packed into bags with numbers on them indicating the route.

“We have to order the food. We have to receive it, put it up. We cook it, we prep it,” Gabhart said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it for the community.”

Then volunteers and others with Meals on Wheels pick up the bags driving the food to seniors in the community.

“They are the heart and soul of the program,” Freund said. “For delivering our home delivered program, we rely heavily on the volunteer client base that we have.”

The program delivers more than 425 meals to seniors every weekday. They have to pay for the meals, but Freund said they don’t turn anyone who needs help away, and she said these meals are critical for many.

“When you take a meal to a client and you know they’re only getting that visitor that day, some of our clients are that way or that is their only visit, or you know that you’re actually providing the only meal that they’re going to get that day, that impacts you,” Freund said. “It touches your heart. You know that you’re doing a service that is much needed.”

Meals on Wheels doesn’t just deliver food. They also have a congregate program where seniors can have meals with others in a group setting. They run that program through three locations:

• The Scovill Activity Center: 3909 W. Main St.
• The Oxford House: 2700 N. Monroe St.
• The Woods: 3010 E. Mound Rd.

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