Feed the Elderly volunteers honored

Volunteers were celebrated Monday with a luncheon at Elkin First Methodist Church for their work with the Feed the Elderly program which delivers a hot meal to shut-in senior citizens in Elkin and Jonesville.

“We celebrate you all and the beautiful thing you all make happen every week, here in the Elkin Jonesville community. You are the reason that we even have a program,” Interim Director Jane Motsinger told the volunteers. “I celebrate you because of your devotion to this ministry, your steadfastness, your kindness and compassion.”

“That personal contact, your smiling face and that meal coming into their hands is probably appreciated at least as much as the food if not more so,” Motsinger added.

The program began more than 60 years ago and was first led by Ruby Bryan, who delivered meals to shut-ins that she prepared in her own home. Special guest at Monday’s luncheon was Bryan’s granddaughter Hope Elisa Bryant.

Bryant called Monday’s luncheon “phenomenal” and “so beautiful.”

“The people were so beautiful that took on the ministry that Ruby T. Bryan began,” she said. “They understood what the mission was about.”

“Mother Ruby, she was one of a kind,” Bryan said. “She was a stickler on gardens, on herbs. She didn’t just go to the store and buy these things. She had a garden of vegetables. She had flowers and herbs.”

Bryant said her grandmother, whom she called Mother Ruby, was always potting up natural healing herbs.

“She believed in the natural and taking care of yourself,” she said.

Ruby Bryan started what eventually became the Feed the Elderly ministry right in her own home.

“She started in her own kitchen preparing these foods, these meals and she would go out and distribute them,” Bryant explained. “The more she went out, the more she saw the need.”

The program began to grow as others joined in to help Bryan and soon area churches joined to aid the mission as well.

There are now eight area churches and two independent groups of volunteers, around 100 volunteers total, who deliver meals. Among the volunteer groups are Elkin First Methodist, Elkin First Baptist, Jonesville Pentecostal Holiness, Maple Springs United Methodist, Elkin Valley Baptist, St. Stephens Catholic, Galloway Memorial Episcopal, Elkin Presbyterian, The Community Volunteers, and Danny and Sylvia Key (from the former Vine Church.)

Feed the Elderly volunteers deliver meals every Monday through Friday, including Christmas and Thanksgiving. The group delivers 50 meals which are prepared by Hugh Chatham Health.

The program is funded through the Yadkin Valley United Fund, Elkin Fund from the Winston-Salem Foundation and the Chatham Foundation. Motsinger said Feed the Elderly is always in need of financial support to provide the meals and in need of volunteers to deliver meals. If any individual or any church is interested in getting involved, they may contact Motsinger at 336-244-4375.