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Meals on Wheels turning to politicos to make deliveries

urmhomecare.org

It's "March for Meals," an effort to promote funding and raise awareness of the Meals on Wheels program and the issue of senior hunger.

Now the program, run locally by UR Medicine Home Care, is recruiting a new set of volunteers.

This year, organizers are reaching out to elected officials to see if they'll help deliver meals.

State Senator Joe Robach was set to visit clients on Friday.

Credit urmhomecare.org
Senator Joe Robach helping deliver meals Friday

Public Relations Coordinator at UR Medicine Home Care, Matthew Futter, says it’s an opportunity for local elected leaders to meet their constituents one on one.

“Really getting out and meeting the people who impact what they do politically and they can really kind of hit the ground running with that,” he said.

Credit Alex Crichton
Marty LaRosa of Webster prepares to make a few deliveries

The program relies on volunteers like Marty LaRosa of Webster to deliver meals and conduct a safety check on clients.

"Some of these people, we're the only contact.  Some of these people it's clear that without these meals, I'm not quite sure what they would eat, or how nutritionally they would eat,” he said.

Futter adds the program delivers more than just meals.

"It's a safety check.  We have people who are contact people for these folks who are home bound.  And they're going in and they're saying 'hey how are you doing today,' it's that interaction, making sure that they're okay," he said.

Recipients of Meals on Wheels say the program enables them to remain independent, and 99 percent would recommend it to others, according to UR Medicine Home Care.

Futter adds it appears the federal budget proposal will not negatively impact the program.