Meals on Wheels serves Thanksgiving, but needs more help

150 volunteers, along with staff, got up early and throughout the morning, cooked, packed, loaded, and delivered 350 Thanksgiving meals.

AUSTIN, Texas - Dinner for Thanksgiving filled two heating units and three coolers with 350 meals.

Each meal was pulled out and placed into bags Thursday morning as a line of cars grew longer outside of the Meals on Wheels headquarters. However this was not your typical curbside delivery, but rather part of a special food caravan.

The first in line was a team that included Polly Alexander, a 15-year volunteer with Meals on Wheels. "It’s a payment every day that you can't, no matter of money would give you that amount of satisfaction," she said.

150 volunteers, along with staff, got up early and throughout the morning, cooked, packed, loaded, and delivered Thanksgiving meals.

"Senior hunger and senior isolation are significant challenges in our community, even more so on a holiday like thanksgiving. And we are incredibly thankful and grateful to our community coming out and supporting us today," said Meals on Wheels President and CEO Adam Hauser.

Operation Turkey in need of volunteers Thanksgiving day

The nonprofit Operation Turkey worked all day Wednesday to cook food, but for Thanksgiving they need some help to pass it all out.

Among those there to help was Governor Greg Abbott. It’s a holiday tradition for Abbott, his wife and daughter. The first stop for the Governor was the home of Charlie Mae Bunton.

After receiving her bag of food Bunton told FOX7 it’s all a blessing and something she wanted to share with others. "Keep on praying, and trusting in the Lord … hmhmhm. And God Bless the whole world," she said.

For the blessing to happen, Abbott pointed out, it’s the volunteers who make this day of thanks also a day for giving.

"This is actually one of the most happiest and rewarding days my family and I have when we get to do our part to help people, who really don't get to see that many other people. They get to meet someone and talk to someone and get something special, and it makes them feel so good that there are people who care about them," said Abbott.

Central Texas Food Bank expects to serve close to 400K this November

Since 2019, the Central Texas Food Bank has seen a 26% spike in the need for their services, with one in seven now experiencing hunger every day.

The COVID-19 pandemic has really hit this operation hard. Hot meal services were scaled back in March 2020. The main focus has been delivering food supplies to 26,000 people every two weeks.

"It’s been enormously complex and it’s been enormously difficult," said Chief Operations Officer Michael Wilson.

The pandemic may be easing up, but Wilson said the pressure on the program is increasing. Meals on Wheels is going back to daily hot meal deliveries January 24th.

"Well it’s not going to be status quo, like we knew before the pandemic, it’s going to be where we were plus," said Wilson.

The goal now is to provide 3,000 hot meals every weekday. But to make this happen, and to fill more than 100 open routes, Meals on Wheels needs 500 additional volunteers by the first of the New Year.

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