Bay Aging is seeking volunteers for its Meals on Wheels program, with the most acute need in Mathews County.

Typically, volunteers serve approximately two to three hours once a week delivering meals to the seniors in their community. “However, we are extremely flexible and can arrange a volunteer schedule that works for you,” a Bay Aging release stated.

Bay Aging’s Meals on Wheels program accomplishes much more than providing sustenance to homebound seniors. Meals on Wheels volunteers are a lifeline for seniors, providing friendship and safety checks for the people they serve. Because of a surge in demand brought on from the COVID-19 pandemic, already in 2020, Bay Aging staff and Meals on Wheels volunteers have delivered over 176,000 nutritious meals to frail, homebound seniors throughout the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.

“Almost every county we serve has a rapidly growing senior population and, in many cases, Meals on Wheels deliveries are the only way these seniors can continue to live independently in their own homes,” said Ken Rogers, Director of Bay Aging’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). “Coupled with the significant increase in demand caused by COVID-19, this year we will far exceed the number of meals delivered in recent years. In Mathews County, we deliver hot meals five days a week, but volunteers can work as little as one day a month. We want to make the volunteering experience as easy to participate in as possible.”

“We are thankful to Mathews County Public Schools for the incredible, home-cooked meals they prepare for our seniors every week,” said Laura Matthews, Bay Aging’s Active Lifestyle Center Manager and Meals on Wheels Coordinator in Mathews. “Unfortunately, without more volunteers it is difficult to reach as many of our neighbors as we need to.”

For more information about becoming a Meals on Wheels volunteer, contact Matthews at 804-725-7850 or lmatthews@bayaging.org.