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Meals on Wheels staff in Gaston County urge volunteers, say daily checks have saved lives
Summary
Meals on Wheels social workers and volunteers described delivering meals and performing daily welfare checks across Gaston County, saying volunteers have found residents who fell and called emergency services; staff urged more volunteers and site monitors to sustain timely, in-person deliveries.
Meals on Wheels social workers and volunteers described the program’s role in providing meals, social contact and daily safety checks to homebound older residents across Gaston County and urged more people to volunteer.
“Lot of the elderly in our community is neglected, so we really need people to actually check-in on the people that are forgotten about,” a Meals on Wheels social worker said, describing regular visits that include a “safety check every single day.”
Why it matters: Staff said many clients have no regular family support and that a daily in-person visit can be the only face someone sees that week. They emphasized that deliveries are done in person rather than left at door handles both to protect food safety and to verify a participant’s welfare.
Program details and staffing: A social worker said she and a colleague are the primary social workers for Meals on Wheels and listed the program’s coverage areas within Gaston County, including West Gastonia, Mount Holly, Cherryville, Stanley, East Gastonia, Bessemer City, Dallas and Belmont. Staff described a monthly reassessment process and said they schedule visits in one-hour slots so participants have time to raise concerns.
Volunteers and site monitors: Staff and a volunteer stressed that volunteers are essential to keeping deliveries on time. A volunteer said that without volunteers, staff would be forced to deliver meals from the office and deliveries would often slip into the afternoon. The social worker asked community members to consider volunteering and described site monitors as the front-line coordinators who schedule volunteers after they complete HR screening.
Safety examples and outcome: Staff recounted multiple instances in which volunteers found participants who had fallen and called for emergency services. “They probably would have just died on that floor,” a staff member said, describing how those interventions averted worse outcomes.
What’s next: Staff closed by noting that participants frequently express appreciation for the social contact volunteers provide and reiterated a call for more volunteers and site monitors to sustain on-time, in-person delivery and safety checks.
