Wayne County Meals on Wheels Volunteers - The Heart of our Community

Wayne County Senior Services Department’s senior nutrition program is a volunteer driven program that provides congregate, home-delivered (Meals on Wheels), liquid, and Halal meals to the eligible senior residents in the 34 communities of Western Wayne County and Downriver. Meals are packed, picked-up or delivered from, or consumed on-site at 40 nutrition sites consisting of churches, senior centers, senior apartment buildings and schools in Out-Wayne County.

Our Need

Volunteers are the heart and soul of our department and without them we would not be able to serve and deliver the more than 850,000 meals projected this fiscal year. Unfortunately, we were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in a significant loss of volunteers necessary to meet our mission. Restoring our volunteer network to pre-pandemic numbers is our department’s most important objective. Our program needs 200 hundred additional active volunteers.

Route Delivery Details

• Meals are delivered Monday through Thursday between the hours of 8:30 am and 1:00 pm.
• The average home delivery route serves 10 clients and takes about 1 -1 ½ hours to complete. Delivery starts times vary depending on location.
• Employees may volunteer time every day, a few days per week or occasionally as a substitute.

The Reward

Volunteers can serve their individual community by helping to address the escalating issue of senior hunger, senior isolation and help to keep older adults safe and independent in their homes. Meals on Wheels clients must come to the door to receive their meals from the volunteers to confirm their wellness. If a client does not come to the door, the listed emergency contact is notified. The pride and satisfaction experienced when providing a meal to someone is deep and lasting. Personal engagement is equally satisfying for both the volunteer and older adults.

Opportunities to Engage Volunteers

1. Encourage businesses to adopt a route or multiple routes in a community where their business is located. Allow employees to volunteer to deliver meals for the adopted route(s). Or allow employees to volunteer to deliver meals in the community where they live. Support volunteers by providing discounts or other incentives when they shop at or purchases services.

2. Partner with colleges and universities to provide students with opportunities to work, volunteer, fulfill community service requirements, or intern for educational credits with the Senior Services Department. Students can work at a community distribution site to package meals for delivery, meal delivery runners or as meal delivery drivers. Our focus is students attending a local college or university authorized for work study, internships, practicums, community service or simply wishing to volunteer, in one of the 34 communities we serve.

3. Encourage faith-based organizations to adopt a route or multiple routes in a community where their church or faith-based organization is located. Members can volunteer to deliver meals for the route, or members can volunteer to deliver meals in another community.

How you can support our volunteer recruitment plan

• Provide the name and address of businesses in your community and a contact person if known
• Provide the name and address of faith-based organizations in your community and a contact person if known
• Share flyers and other marketing materials with others