On Monday mornings, outside of St. Joe’s church in Lino Lakes, a few Meals on Wheels drivers meet up to collect pre-packaged meals that were prepared at Mercy Hospital.
This is one of five sites in the area where Meals on Wheels deliveries begin. The food deliveries are managed by the local non-profit Impact Services.
“Impact Services is delivering to almost four hundred people right now throughout Anoka County and the city of Champlin,” said executive director Steve Griffiths.
The delivery schedule took a hit due to the pandemic, but in the coming weeks, Griffiths would like to see it return to five days a week.
To be able to do that, Impact Services needs more drivers. Griffiths says that the deliveries aren’t just about the food – they can deliver multiple meals to a person each day, but equally important is having these volunteers check in on their clients – who are often elderly and often live alone.
These check ins can only happen five days a week if more people in the community are willing to volunteer some time. At St. Joes, volunteers pick up their meals at 11, and are usually done with their route in less than an hour and half.
If you’d like to get involved with delivering Meals on Wheels, you can call Impact Services 763-236-8718. Griffiths said they would welcome any level of commitment – from signing up to deliver meals five days a week, or signing up to deliver once a month.
