According to a study by the Meals on Wheels Association of America, one in nine seniors is at risk of hunger in the United States. Georgia ranks 6^th in the nation for seniors at risk for proper nutrition.

The Home Delivered Meals program (“Meals on Wheels”) of the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA) aims to improve that statistic, delivering an average of 325 meals every weekday to over 230 clients in Athens-Clarke and Barrow Counties.  Meals on Wheels program participants have access to a hot noon-time meal, Monday through Friday, as well as frozen and shelf-stables meals to supplement evening and weekend meals for those most nutritionally at-risk clients.  Each meal provides one-third of an adult’s daily nutritional requirements.  The provision of a nourishing meal isn’t the only thing Meals on Wheels has to offer.  This program also allows for increased socialization and emergency intervention, ultimately fostering independent living and preventing premature or unnecessary institutionalization. 

The Meals on Wheels program of ACCA would not be able to serve this many clients without the help of committed volunteers.  In 2010, 7,961 total hours were given and 130,075 miles driven by Meals on Wheels volunteers.  Calculated at minimum wage and $0.50 per mile, this equates to $122,749.75 of services donated by this dedicated force of volunteers.  The majority of these dedicated volunteers are from the Corporation for National and Community Service’s RSVP program, which is sponsored locally by ACCA.  According to Sarah McKinney, who supervises Meals on Wheels at ACCA, volunteer recruitment and retention of this volume and caliber would not be possible without the resources provided through RSVP.  An average of 125 ACCA RSVP volunteers serve with Meals on Wheels, some of whom have been volunteering with the program for over 25 years.  RSVP contributed over 6,500 hours to Athens-Clarke and Barrow County Meals on Wheels in 2010.

The video attached was created by Senior Corps Program Director Elise North and was premiered at a volunteer recognition and community awareness breakfast during the 2011 March for Meals campaign.  March for Meals is a national initiative of the Meals on Wheels Association of America.  Many of the volunteers highlighted in the video are with the RSVP program.