Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa has an urgent need for additional volunteers to help deliver meals and friendly contact to homebound elderly and disabled people in the North and East areas of Tulsa.
There is a critical shortage of volunteer driver/deliverers, food packers, and site coordinators. Already, a waiting list has been instituted for parts of North Tulsa.
“People desperately need our services. We want to make sure everyone who needs meals has a chance to get them,” said Cathy Perlingiere, Director of Volunteer Services. "This is an opportunity to do something very simple and very easy, but to also make a difference in someone’s life and well-being.”
“Right now, we have volunteers doing double days and delivering several routes, and we just cannot continue this way. Unless we can find some help quickly, we will have to place a hold on meal delivery in some areas. It would be a shame to have a homebound person go hungry simply because we were unable to find someone to take them a meal.”
The volunteer details:
· Usually requires under two hours of time
· Weekday mornings between 10:00 a.m. and noon
· Assigned a specific route on a specific day
· Commit to once a week or every other week for a minimum of 6 months
· Application process includes a security check
· Placement within 2 weeks of receipt of completed application
“The rewards are great, as each volunteer makes a very big contribution to the lives of the recipients, becoming an important link with the world beyond the front door. Volunteers deliver a hot meal - and get a warm feeling inside for doing such a good thing.” Perlingiere added.