Meals on Wheels move with volunteer airmen

11/21/2002 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- The Air Force interrupts Rachel McGhee's soap operas almost every day. She forgives the interruption, though. She gets a hot lunch and the chance to chat with Maxwell airmen.

"They're wonderful," said McGhee. "They come every day, whether I'm hungry or not. They make me feel good." McGhee, 85, benefits from Meals on Wheels, a program that gives elderly or homebound people not only a hot meal each day, but someone to talk to.

"Maxwell brings a lot to Meals on Wheels," said Jessica Cargill, program coordinator for Montgomery, Ala. "It makes senior citizens feel proud to see folks in uniform delivering meals to them." Maxwell has volunteers participating in Meals on Wheels every day it operates, Cargill said. There are almost 350 volunteers throughout Montgomery. A majority of those -- 203 -- are from Maxwell.

Meals on Wheels is the most visible community service organized by the Montgomery Area Council on Aging. According to MACOA officials, volunteers deliver hot lunches five days a week to more than 300 homebound senior citizens who are unable to prepare their own meals. "It makes seniors feel so important when military members show up on their doorstep in uniform," Cargill said. "We get phone calls and letters from seniors all the time saying how much they appreciate the military."

The Maxwell contribution is so significant that the program struggled when Maxwell had to increase security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she said. "We were struggling for about a month," Cargill said. "We had to hunt for other temporary volunteers. We were extremely happy when things returned to normal and all our Maxwell volunteers could participate again."

Senior Airman Moses Delaney from Air War College said the reason he volunteers is because of the opportunity to serve Montgomery area senior citizens.

"It makes me feel great," Airman Delaney said. "We all have grandparents, and this is one way to shed some love on the community."

Delaney has participated in the program for about three months, but he is no stranger to community service. Since arriving at Maxwell in 1999, he has volunteered for other community service programs.

Tech. Sgt. Darrin Roberson, also from Air War College, has volunteered for two years because of the sensation he gets when he knocks on the door to deliver a meal.

"It's a wonderful feeling because I know that I'll be the only human contact that some of these people will get," Roberson said. "It brightens their day, and I know it brightens my day."