Meals On Wheels Honors Volunteers And Seeks Those In Need

More than 75 Newtown Meals on Wheels drivers and other volunteers were honored at the annual appreciation luncheon last week in the undercroft of Trinity Church.

Last year, MOW volunteers delivered 4,593 meals to 42 recipients, an increase in recipients but a decrease in the total number of meals served. The volunteers generally donate an hour or two once a month to deliver meals to housebound elderly or disabled persons.

Twenty-year awards were announced for volunteers Marilyn Alexander and Betty Christensen.

David McCauley received the Bravo-Berthe Melville Award for service being willing to serve as a substitute driver whenever asked in addition to his regularly scheduled driving days.

Fifteen-year awards were presented to Ann Kirk, Anna Maye, Marti Williams, Jeanne and Bill Honan, Ed Fansher, and Doris Bulmer.

Charlie and Jean Fadus, Jim and Barbara Murphy, and Marianne Nadrizny were honored for five-years of service.

Selectman Joe Bojnowski addressed the volunteers, speaking about the importance of their efforts.

“You may be the only person [the recipient] gets to see on a typical day,” he said. “The meal is important but so is the relationship –– the community that you provide.”

“Newtown wouldn’t be the town that it is without the services that you provide,” he said.

Ashlar of Newtown, a skilled nursing facility on Toddy Hill Road, prepares the meals for MOW. Meghean Faul is the food service director.

“We have a wonderful partnership that helps to make Meals on Wheels the success that it is,” Ashlar President Tom Gutnar said.

Originally the meals were prepared by the kitchen of Fairfield Hills Hospital. When the hospital closed, Ashlar took over the job. Now recipients get menus with a choice of selections and meals are customized to take into account food allergies and special needs, as well as likes and dislikes.

Mrs Hovious and Ellyn Gehrett are co-presidents of Newtown MOW, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that was formed in 1975 to deliver meals to persons who for physical, psychological, or economic reasons are unable to prepare food for themselves.

“These are people who live alone, are homebound, and cannot drive and get out on their own to get any type of supplies,” Mrs Hovious said. “They have to rely on others for these service. That’s really important to understand. We aren’t a service for people who are tired of cooking.”

Referrals generally come from relatives, friends, neighbors, and occasionally by the person who is in need. It is important to get the message about MOW out because the number of recipients has been decreasing in recent years. In 1999 the number of meals served topped 8,000.

“We don’t know whether the need is less or whether there are people out there who need us but just don’t know about us,” Mrs Gehrett said. Anyone who has the name of a potential recipient should call Mrs Behrett at 426-8436 or Nancy Larin at 426-8971.

  During its first year of operation, MOW delivered 1,036 meals to 28 persons who paid $1 a meal. Twenty-eight years later, the cost to the recipient is only $2.50 although it costs $3.50 to prepare and package the meals. The shortfall is made up by donations. During the past year the Newtown Lions Club donated $500 and the Goodrich Company (formerly Hughes Optical) donated $2,500. Donations also were received from  the Newtown Congregational Church, Taunton Press, the Ceres Foundation, Pipevine, Inc, and several individuals.

MOW officers for 2003 also include Dolores Judge, vice president; Mandy Monaco, secretary; Peg Forbell, treasurer; Joan Tynan, corresponding secretary; Colleen Honan, driver coordinator; Nancy Larin and Ellyn Gehrett, recipient coordinators; Marilyn Alexander and Janet Hovious, recipient interviewers; Bobbe Bowles, publicity.

Occasional volunteer drivers still are needed; call Colleen Honan at 426-0714 for more information.