The Highlands Senior Service Center is looking for volunteer Meals on Wheels drivers to cover several of their delivery routes in south county and Lower Lake. Each route takes less than two hours and drivers can volunteer for one or several days a week. There also exists a need for on call and back up drivers, sometimes on very short notice.
Highlands Senior Center serves Meals on Wheels clients in the Clearlake, Clearlake Park and Lower Lake areas five days a week, with the exception of holidays. Unlike other industries or organizations, volunteers drivers are reimbursed for their mileage and need to have a valid license and a registered, insured car. Training is provided to drivers.
Meals on Wheels is an invaluable community program that couldn’t exist without volunteers. According to those who administer the program, The Meals on Wheels clients are some of the most vulnerable people in our community, typically they are people aged 60 and over, homebound due to illness or a disability, most unable to shop or to cook for themselves and with no one to shop or cook for them.
Moreover, a lot of the times the Meals on Wheels driver is the sole person that these homebound seniors see on a daily basis, and sometimes the meal delivered by the volunteer drivers is the only meal the clients have to eat that day. Imagine being a homebound person with no one to talk to for long stretches of time who looks forward to receiving both a hearty meal and a little company to brighten up their day. As a volunteer for this program Lake County residents have an opportunity to do both and we urge them to consider helping out this altruistic endeavor.
According to Jeannie DeLope, who is in charge of the program for the senior center, As of September, the program was delivering approximately 114 meals on a daily basis, utilizing four drivers. There is certainly a pressing need for more, especially at a time when the state is providing few resources. Joyce Overton, Highlands Senior Center director stated 32,934 meals were delivered in 2018 while the center’s congregate meals (those served in a group setting at the facility) totaled 9,832.
If you can volunteer your time and your energy to help keep the Highlands Senior Center Meals on Wheels program going, please call 994-3051 for more information on how you can make a big impact in the community by volunteering to help deliver meals and making a senior’s day that much brighter. A little bit of your time can go a long way in another person’s physical and emotional well being and you an help ensure that this program continues.
If you can’t volunteer but would still like to support the program, please send donations to HSSC at P.O. Box 180, Clearlake, 95422 or stop by the office located at 3245 Bowers Avenue, Clearlake. We encourage people to get involved and to keep this important community resource rolling along.
