Meals on Wheels Seeks Volunteers

Where are the lazy days of summer?  They are definitely not here at Meals on Wheels.  It’s business as usual at Greer Community Ministries.  Our Meals on Wheels program delivers meals to homebound, elderly and disabled people in the Greater Greer Community in every season during the year.

Since the end of May, we have added 22 new clients.  Every day it takes a minimum of 20 different volunteer drivers to deliver meals to more than 300 clients.  We deliver downtown routes and rural routes.  We deliver to subdivisions and to apartment complexes.  And, just as Greer is divided between Greenville and Spartanburg counties, our service area has unique boundaries.  Our 20 routes encompass areas from Main Street in Taylors to the Inland Port, from Campbell’s Covered Bridge to Barnyard Flea Market, and miles of roads in between.

During the summer, volunteer drivers take much needed vacations, and service learning students that normally deliver for us weekly are on break.  Driver recruiting starts early in the spring for these types of openings.  But with the influx of new clients, we are scrambling to have drivers available as routes change or divide.  Our dedicated staff covers routes when we cannot find substitutes, so we would love to hear from anyone who is willing to help cover summer shortages.

Most of our routes take about an hour to complete.  We realize that your time is valuable.  If you are delivering on your lunch hour, we can accommodate your needs by assigning a route close to your workplace, one that is more convenient for you to serve.  We are thankful for area businesses that regularly deliver meals to our clients, including Greer State Bank, Dick Brooks Honda, Palmetto Bank, and Greer Memorial Hospital.

We are also blessed to have local churches help with routes, including Taylors FBC, St Andrews Presbyterian, Mt Lebanon Baptist, Abner Creek Baptist, Liberty Hill, Sharon Methodist, Covenant United Methodist, Pelham FBC, Ebenezer Methodist, and Airport Baptist Church.  The Meals on Wheels program is a facet of home missions for these churches as they serve the elderly and disadvantaged in the community.  Again, we try to pair churches with MOW routes that are in close proximity so that church members are able to see the needs in their specific neighborhoods.

Delivering meals to grateful individuals is a rewarding experience, and we need volunteer drivers in every season of the year – – not just summer.  If you have time to drive once a quarter, once a month, or once a week, please give us a call.

Wendy Campbell – Meals on Wheels Coordinator