GRANDVILLE, Mich. — Inside their Grandville kitchen, Meals on Wheels Western Michigan says around 2800 meals are made every day as staff and volunteers work to make sure seniors in Allegan and Kent Counties have access to healthy meals.
They said the winter storm does not mean their work is on pause.
"Snow is not really going to stop us here at Meals on Wheels," said Ashley Diersch, Vice-President of Community Impact for Meals on Wheels Western Michigan.
"We are working hard to make sure that our volunteers feel safe for home-delivered meals, community dining sites and our senior pantry are still as accessible as possible," added Diersch.
Michigan weather can still be unpredictable, which is also why Diersch says they begin to put in extra care for seniors as early as the fall.
"Usually before weather starts to turn, we want to make sure we get ahead of it. We do what we call emergency meals, and they are an extra box of shelf-stable food items that go out so that that way, if in the rare chance there is something that would cause us from not being able to deliver, we have provided some food in advance."
Their staff and volunteers are always monitoring conditions to make sure food can safely be delivered and can make alternative plans if needed, such as early deliveries.
Diersch says that it is thanks to their staff and volunteers that they can prevent their services from being disrupted.
"We have a small staff. We are really driven by our volunteers, and making sure that we have commitment and regular volunteers to make sure that everything can continue on as planned."
Meals on Wheels West Michigan also wants to emphasize that caring for local seniors is a community effort, and to check in on elderly neighbors, especially if they live alone.
"A lot of the seniors that we serve might not have regular, consistent ability to have family visits, or friends, and so making sure that we're checking in on them, helping with things like snow removal at their own houses," said Diersch.
Information on becoming a volunteer driver or for volunteer opportunities with Meals on Wheels can be found here.
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