Meals on Wheels may put hold on new clients because of volunteer shortage

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Seniors Services of Wichita is struggling to find volunteers to deliver Meals on Wheels to homebound senior citizens. Now, that struggle could affect other services.

When there are not enough volunteers, Senior Services employees drop what they are doing and deliver meals.

“Staff ends up taking multiple routes,” Laurel Alkire, executive director of Senior Services of Wichita, said. “They’re gone for two hours, and they come back, and they still have to do their assessments.”

She said workers need all of their time to assess current and new clients and make home visits.

“We are considering placing a temporary hold on adding new clients until we can catch up,” she said. “Right now, delivering up to 850 meals may be unrealistic given limited manpower from both staff and volunteers.”

Nick Bach has been a Meals on Wheels volunteer for almost two years. He is retired and said it is a good way to stay connected to the community.

“People who are homebound might not get a meal other than this,” he said. “This is a very worthwhile cause. It makes you, the volunteer, feel good. You’re helping humankind.”

Bach, who is retired, delivers meals on Wednesdays and Fridays. On one of the days, he delivers 10 meals, which takes him about 45 to 50 minutes. On the other day, he delivers 23 meals, which can take him about an hour and 10 minutes.

“I like doing it. I like interacting with these people. They’re so appreciative,” he said. “We kind of have a little relationship and check on each other, and it feels good.”

Alkire is not sure why volunteers have dropped off.

“I don’t know if it’s the cost of gas, if it’s they’ve decided they want to do other things,” she said. “You know, they’re older. Some of them have had surgeries, some of them are ill. We’ve had some with COVID, that’s still around, so it’s just been a real struggle for us.”

She said the volunteers visiting homes are essential to the daily routine for Meals on Wheels clients.

“More than the meal, they love to see somebody at the door because most of our Meals on Wheels clients … are isolated, and the volunteer’s the only one they see,” Alkire said. “So they really look forward to that conversation, and it can be a lot of fun. Our volunteers are very connected to their clients.”

To volunteer

Senior Services makes it as easy on volunteers as possible. You can apply by clicking here.

“We take care of everything. We get you ready to go. You get out. You get a sheet with the addresses with any special instructions on it, with the names, so you know where you’re going and who you’re going to be talking to,” Alkire said.

Volunteers can choose the day they want and the area of town they want.

“If there are routes open in that area, we can give that to you,” Alkire said.

“It’s something that you’ll enjoy, that you will see these people who are invisible because they’re homebound, we don’t even know they’re there, and I think that you will find that you get more out of it sometimes than the client,” she said.

Alkire also encouraged local companies to sign up to help.

“A lot of companies are now encouraging their employees to take a route,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a team-building thing for their staff, but we have a lot of regulars.”

She mentioned Davis-Moore Auto Group, Intrust Bank, and Evergy sending staff to volunteer.

“We’re just seeing more employers, and I think it’s a thing, it’s the new trend, is encouraging their employees to get out and do community service,” Alkire said. “It looks good for them, of course, and it also exposes their employees to what’s going on in the community.”

Those who apply to volunteer must be reference checked and attend a brief orientation.

What happens if volunteers do not sign up?

“It’s stressful, you know,” Alkire said. “We’re short-staffed, and they’re already stressed, but they do a wonderful job and thank God we have such great, great staff, but we need volunteers to help us out.”

She said putting a temporary hold on adding new clients is just one option. Another one is to provide Meals on Wheels clients with more boxed meals.

“During COVID, we did box meals,” Alkire said. “They usually were a canned meat, crackers, things like that.”

She said clients get two boxes each fall to save in case bad weather keeps volunteers from delivering fresh meals.

“So, that is an option that we could do is do some box meals and get those out to them in advance, but that’s also a lot of work and a cost.”

Alkire said her preference is to get more volunteers.

“Come out and deliver. You’ll have a lot of fun. You’ll meet other people,” she said. “Other volunteers, we’ve got a lot of them that have developed friendships, and I think that’ you’ll really enjoy the experience.”