On Wednesday, I joined local “Community Champions” from across Osceola County—including elected officials, first responders, and community leaders—for a Meals on Wheels ride-along.
The event was part of Community Champions Week, a national March for Meals campaign led by Meals on Wheels America, which gives local leaders a chance to see how the program operates and meet the residents it serves.
Before we headed out on our routes, William Santiago, director of nutritional services with the Osceola Council on Aging, shared some history.
“Over the past 55 years, this program has grown because of people like you: community leaders, volunteers, partners, and advocates who understand that taking care of our seniors is not an option. It’s a responsibility we all share.”
My driver, Roger, and I loaded a cooler of cold meals and an insulated bag of hot meals into the bed of his Toyota and headed into Kissimmee. Roger explained that each stop on his route receives a hot and cold meal every day, Monday through Friday.
Roger has volunteered with Meals on Wheels for years, considering it his way of giving back.
“My wife and I have been so lucky, in a way. We had our own business, which enabled us to make money and have our sons there with us all day,” he said. “I guess it’s our way of giving back to other people who are not so lucky.”
I watched him drive from house to house…no map, no need to check names or instructions. He knows these people.
As we pulled up to each home, he already knew who would answer the door, how long it might take, and how they liked to be greeted.
He knows that when he reaches one lady’s house, he has to ring the doorbell and knock loudly two or three different times, because she doesn’t hear well. And he knows that he then needs to be patient and wait, because she has to make her way by wheelchair from her bedroom to the door.
He knows at another stop, the owner’s two small dogs recognize the sound of his truck and will come running to him for the treats he always brings to them.
He knows that one resident speaks only Spanish, so he calls out a hearty “¡Hola! ¿Cómo estas?” Another speaks French, so he greets her with a warm “Bonjour,” and she beams back at him, standing in the doorway with the support of her walker. She will turn 96 on the Fourth of July, he tells me.
He knows them. And just as valuable as the nutrition is the connection he brings to them. As Santiago told us before we headed out, “The meal provides critical nutrition for many of those seniors we serve. This is a meal they rely on each day to stay healthy and remain independent in their own home.”
But just as important, he told us, is the knock on the door, the moment someone says, “Good morning, how are you?”
“For many of those seniors, that brief interaction is the only human connection they may have that day,” he said. “It’s a wellness check. It’s reassurance. It’s dignity.”
And by the end of the route—just an hour later— the truth of that was clear to me. Because while the meals mattered, they were only a part of what we had delivered.
For more information on Osceola County Meals on Wheels call 407-846-8532, extension 1202.
