By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

 If you have a vehicle, a few free hours a week and can pass a background check, you can be part of the Southern Maine’s Agency on Aging’s (SMAA) efforts to provide home-bound seniors with meals via the Meals on Wheels program. 

Joanne McPhee, nutrition manager for SMAA, said the 33-year-old program is always in need of volunteers, especially during the upcoming summer months. 

“We’re not talking lots of time, just an hour helps,” said Maureen Morin, a site planner for SMAA. 

Art Vose has volunteered his time with the Meals on Wheels program since January, and said he will have to stop making trips as his summer landscaping business starts to demand more of his time. Vose spoke about Meals on Wheels as he delivered meals to Robert and Mary McIntosh, who have lived in Kennebunk for 28 years.

“I think [the meals] are pretty good. Of course you have to put a little salt on them, it is health food after all,” said Robert McIntosh.

Robert McIntosh said they have relied on Meals on Wheels for several years. They started on the program after Mary McIntosh had a stroke and began to have trouble preparing meals.

“Sometimes things would be in the microwave with the covers on,” Robert McIntosh said. “The worst was maple syrup, that made a mess.”

McPhee said drivers are required to use their own vehicle, but are reimbursed 38 cents a mile. Morin said the Meals on Wheels drivers are often the only people many of their seniors see in a single day.

“We bring meals to about 50 people and we’re hoping to expand,” she said.

In addition to volunteer drivers, the site also needs help to break down the meals which are shipped to the center in bulk by Canteen Catering Service in Saco.

“It’s not cooking the food, it’s separating it into the individual meals, then cleaning up after,” she said. “Cleanliness is a big goal around here.”

The menu, which consists of everything from roast beef to chicken Parmesan, is created by Bateman Meals, a company in the Midwest that focuses on providing a varied menu for programs like Meals on Wheels. Bateman works with dieticians to ensure each meal contains one third of the daily allowance of necessary nutrients. 

Applicants for the program are visited by assessors to determine if they are eligible, McPhee said.

“They really need to be home-bound to receive meals at home,” she said.

For seniors who are still able to get around, McPhee said they offer meals at the 12 dining centers around the state, including the Ross Corner Woods facility in Kennebunk.

The program relies on recommended donations from involved seniors for funding at $3 per meal, or $15 a week. 

“If people can’t afford it, they pay what they think they can afford,” McPhee said.

In June of last year the SMAA began offering Meals on Wheels in Portland after the Salvation Army determined they did not have the funding to keep providing the city with its version of the program. 

“Now we cover all of York and Cumberland County,” McPhee said. 

For more information on Meals on Wheels and volunteering requirements call the SMAA at 1-800-400-MEAL or Maureen Morin at 985-2588 between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.