Volunteers called "backbone" of New Hanover County senior meals program

At the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center, volunteers and staff described their roles keeping a county nutrition program running and said volunteers are essential to service delivery. "Our volunteers are truly the backbone of what we do here at our nutrition services program and we could not have nearly the same impact or community wide reach without all of their help," a staff member said.

Several volunteers offered short testimonials about why they serve. One said, "I volunteer because it's very rewarding," while another noted, "I enjoy being around people and I enjoy helping people and have did it for almost for 19 years." A third volunteer said volunteering helps their mental health since they are not working full time and described giving back as a family practice because their parents volunteered.

Volunteers described the practical aspects of delivery work: one said many recipients are homebound and volunteers often carry meals up stairs; another said deliveries take about an hour and that the senior resource center handles logistics for volunteers. One volunteer added that sometimes the delivery volunteer is the only person a client sees that day, and that the visit "brightens somebody's day."

The staff member described the program's goals and scale, saying it promotes health and well-being among older adults by addressing food insecurity and malnutrition and by encouraging healthy eating. The program combines home-delivered meals with in-person congregate dining and, according to the staff member, serves over a thousand older adults every single day.

The presentation focused on volunteers' motivations, the program27s operational setup and the scale of service; no policy actions or votes were recorded during the remarks.