Giving Back to the Community with Meals on Wheels Atlanta

On April 24, 2015, President and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., Paul Morris, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Meals on Wheels Atlanta by spending his morning volunteering. Paul, his wife, and Meals on Wheels Atlanta Executive Director Jeff Smythe delivered meals and visited with seniors along one of the regular routes operated by the non-profit. The Atlanta BeltLine and Meals on Wheels Atlanta share a focus of reaching out to seniors and increasing awareness. Every week, Tuesday through Saturday, staff and volunteers deliver fresh food to home-bound or low-income seniors in Fulton County, many of them coincidentally in Atlanta BeltLine neighborhoods. Eleven routes go out Tuesday through Friday and all 22 routes go out on Saturday. All meals are prepared and cooked daily in the Meals on Wheels Atlanta kitchen. A recently completed renovation has allowed for an industrial-sized walk-in freezer, which the non-profit quickly stocked for their clients.

Scroll through our photo slideshow below to see what it’s like to deliver meals! Interested in volunteering yourself or with your family or a group? Click here for the full suite of Meals on Wheels Atlanta volunteer opportunities. You can also follow progress on twitter @fultoninfo and @MOWAtlanta.

Meals on Wheels Atlanta is much more than the complex undertaking of delivering 130,000 meals per year. The organization offers additional resources for seniors in the form of:

  • Home Repair Services: This department works closely with seniors to complete “repairs that make a senior client’s home safe, accessible and up to code with the goal of allowing the senior to remain in their home for a long as possible.”
  • Fulton County Neighborhood Senior Centers: Seven centers in Fulton County welcome and transport seniors five days a week for a wide variety of wellness activities. The closest centers to the Atlanta BeltLine are:
    • New Horizons Neighborhood Center (in Vine City at 755 Orr Street, Atlanta, 30314; call 404.730.7100)
    • Dogwood Neighborhood Senior Center (in Grove Park near the future Westside Reservoir Park at 1953 Donald Lee Holowell Pkwy NW, Atlanta, 30318; call 404.792.4964)
    • Bethlehem Senior Center (in South Atlanta at 87 Thayer Avenue Southeast, Atlanta, GA 30315; call 404.577.6017)
    • St. Paul Golden Age Center (in Grant Park at 501 Grant St SE, Atlanta, 30312)
    • Auburn Neighborhood Senior Center (in Sweet Auburn on the Atlanta Streetcar at 300 Edgewood Ave NE, Atlanta, 30312; call 404.224.3140)
  • Adult Day Health: This program provides meals, activities, medical assistance and more for seniors living with Alzheimer’s or Dementia and their caregivers.
  • Volunteer and Companion Services: This service pairs volunteers over 55 years of age with companion seniors to assist with daily living tasks and attendance at senior center activities.

We encourage seniors who live along the Atlanta BeltLine (which is fully encompassed by Fulton County) to take advantage of these programs and services!

Meals on Wheels Atlanta
The Meals on Wheels Atlanta kitchen staff and volunteers prepping hundreds of meals.
Meals on Wheels Atlanta
Jeff Smythe (Executive Director of Meals on Wheels Atlanta), Mrs. Morris, and Paul Morris (President and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.) receive their orientation from Director of Volunteer Services Kari Morrison.
Meals on Wheels Atlanta
Jeff and Paul verifying all meals are accounted for before departing.
Meals on Wheels Atlanta
All meals accounted for!

 

Meals on Wheels Atlanta
Paul stops in for a visit along the route.
Meals on Wheels Atlanta
Paul and Jeff catch up with a senior along the route on the quality of his meals and the progress on his studies for his masters degree. All is well on both fronts.

 

 

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