Sanford Meals on Wheels volunteer driver Barbara Bourassa had her car all ready to deliver to home bound seniors on Thursday. The Sanford Meals on Wheels program is looking for new space, since the building they’re currently in is poised to undergo a renovation. TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune
SANFORD – Meals on Wheels, the program that provides meals to home bound seniors, is looking for new quarters in Sanford.
A program of Southern Maine Agency on Aging, Meals on Wheels has been operating in space in the former Children’s Center on Amherst Street for the past couple of years. But that space will no longer be available this fall, according to site coordinator Deb Folsom, because the owners, York County Community Action Corporation, plans a major renovation of the building and that means the agency needs to find new quarters before Sept. 1.
The program currently serves 120 clients in Sanford, Acton, Alfred, Hollis, Lebanon, North Berwick, and Waterboro.
Not only do Sanford area Meals on Wheels clients receive meals for themselves – Fido and Fluffy get meals too, as evidenced by the pet food bags ready for delivery Thursday. TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune
Folsom said the agency is looking for a location in Sanford that consists of around 800 square feet or more, and has room for volunteers drivers to park and pick up the coolers that contain the meals, as well as the box truck that delivers them. The space should have a kitchen sink where the coolers can be washed, and a restroom.
As well as meals, the volunteer drivers also distribute food boxes monthly to 22 homebound clients who qualify for the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program,.
Pets of Meals on Wheels clients aren’t forgotten – the agency participates in the Animal Welfare Society’s Animeals initiative, whereby packaged pet food is also delivered to Meals on Wheels clients, said Folsom..
Representatives from Waban’s Life Works program stop by to trim flower bouquets to assure each client gets a flower to brighten their day and there are volunteers from Great Bay Services and Work Opportunities too.
The meals, five per week, are frozen and delivered to clients twice a week.
Among those delivering is Barbara Bourassa of Sanford. Bourassa had retired from her job at Pratt & Whitney and was part of the walking program at Nasson Community Center – the former location of Meals on Wheels, and said she decided to get involved.
“I saw the folks working there, I chatted with them, and I’ve kept at it,” said Bourassa.
She drives a route that includes part of Sanford, Alfred, Waterboro and Hollis and also delivers all the meals for the Kezar Falls site at the Hiram Fire Department just over the border in Oxford County. Those meals are then delivered to clients by volunteers in that community.
“I love it, I love seeing the people,” Bourassa said of her volunteer gig.
In 2018, Meals on Wheels served 153,000 meals and just under 1,500 clients in York and Cumberland counties, according to information provided by Southern Maine Agency on Aging. In the first quarter of 2019, the agency served 986 clients – 240 more agency-wide than in the first quarter of 2018.
Folsom said that the rent the agency is able to pay for space is modest, but pointed out providing space could be considered a charitable donation for tax purposes.
Those with space are asked to call the Sanford Meals on Wheels office at 324-5181.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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