Meals On Wheels

Great organization! I started volunteering here once a week for the last month and so far it’s been a great experience.
This Meals on Wheels operates out of the Grace Lutheran Church on Overland and is headed by Frances Stronks. Frances is the one who will handle all the scheduling — she’s there Tuesdays and Thursdays I believe and then there’s another team on Mondays and Wednesdays.
When you first arrive at the church for your first delivery (at 10:45am), if you’re driving, pull around back through the alley via Farragut and pull up next to the metal stairs in the back. If you’re not doing the driving that day, don’t park on Farragut because it’s all permit parking only. You’ll always enter through the alley and head up the metal staircase. They’ll pair you up (if you’re going with another person), give you your route book and a hot cooler and a cold cooler. Inside the route book are addresses with directions, contact name and any specific meal instructions. They try to keep no more than 10 addresses per route (my regular route has about half that).
Your first time, you’ll go with another volunteer so they can show you the ropes. In a two-​person team, one person drives and the other person runs the meals. Once you give it a shot, you can decide whether you want to continue doing the 2 person team or just head out by yourself. I chose to delivery by myself simply because it required less volunteer commitment from another person.
You can choose to have a regular day and route or you can choose to be on the sub-​list and Frances will call you in advance to see if you’re able to volunteer on an as-​needed basis. I have an every-​other weekday regular route but I’m also on the sub-​list and so far, I’ve come in for one day every week.
Some volunteer organizations require you to have a long-​term commitment… this Meals on Wheels does not. They’re all extremely appreciative however if you’re looking for a volunteer opportunity that gives you instant fuzzies I don’t know if I’d recommend this to you. More than half the time, the folks I deliver to don’t open their door (either because they’re out, they can’t get to the door in time, or any other number of reasons). And especially if you go by yourself, it an be a very solitary experience.
Having said that, they’re always happy to have volunteers that prefer to go in pairs. I’ve met a couple very nice people and it makes the time go by quicker just chatting. Anyways, I like that this is kind of stealth volunteering… you’re in and out and they try to make it as easy as possible for the volunteers. I’d highly recommend — even if you go with a friend and just try it out one time. It’s a great organization and I’m very happy I finally got off my butt and took some action.