- May 3, 2024
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Every Tuesday morning a group of 23 volunteers filter in and out of the Flagler County Senior Services building, loading their cars with boxes packed with five meals to be delivered to seniors in need throughout Flagler County.
This week, the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners approved the continuance of the county’s partnership with G.A. Food Service Inc., the company that supplies food for Flagler’s Meals on Wheels program.
The Flagler Meals on Wheels program delivers to an average of 100 seniors per week, throughout the whole county, including Daytona North, Korona and Bulow, places Senior Services Program Manager Joanne Hinkel said are sometimes untouched.
Meals on Wheels recipients are required to have a home visit before being accepted into the program. Age does not automatically qualify someone, Hinkle said. There must be an impairment of some kind.
The meals program in Flagler County, which also includes daily lunches at the Wickline Center in Flagler Beach, dates back to the mid-1970s, when senior services in Flagler County were established.
Although a government entity, the program relies on volunteers to add a certain human touch.
“They do it all as a true form of volunteerism,” Hinkle said. “They get no mileage reimbursement; they give of their time and effort.”
One of those volunteers is Andy Furia, who has been with the program for four years. Although Furia does not deliver meals, he is at the pick-up site every week to help drivers load their vehicles.
“I just load the boxes,” he said humbly. “The real heroes are the one that are out there driving and doing delivery.”
One husband and wife team that do deliveries are Frank and Thania Miranda, who also don’t consider themselves heroes; they say they are just giving back.
The Meals on Wheels program is always looking for volunteers to deliver meals and substitute for drivers.
If interested in volunteering, contact Hinkel at 586-2324 ext. 315.
