Volunteers love roles bringing food to homebound

Delivering hot meals to homebound people takes a certain personality, and for one close-knit group of people in Cape Girardeau, deliveries are about more than just food -- they're about the connection, too.

BJ Bowman, 80, said she's volunteered with the program for 22 years.

"I've always been a volunteer," Bowman said, as she was mother to six children, then took care of two of her grandchildren before deciding to try volunteering with adults.

She started volunteering with Saint Francis Medical Center at about the same time as she started with Homebound Meals, Bowman said.

"Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion," she said.

Della Kuehle, right, greets BJ Bowman with a hug as she delivers a meal Wednesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Bowman brought her physician husband, Kirk, now 88, along to start volunteering with the Homebound Meals program about 12 years ago, she said.

"I just like the people," Bowman said, and a smile lit up her face.

Although it is tough when people on her route die, "and they do," she said.

Bowman talked about past people on her route, those who reached age 100 before moving into a nursing home, those she delivered to for years and years before they passed on.

"You get close to them," Bowman said.

She also carries a bag of dog treats in her pocket, saying she gets to know the dogs on each route.

"We make friends with the dogs," said volunteer Mike Matzen, laughing. "Like the mailman would do."

Matzen, another longtime volunteer, said he isn't sure how long he's been a volunteer, but it's probably close to about 16 years.

"My aunt received meals," Matzen said, and he was impressed by the program.

He wanted to help, so he signed up.

Senior center administrator Susan McClanahan said the volunteers are some of the best people she knows.

"We have wonderful people," she said.

Since 1973, the senior center's Homebound Meals program has delivered a tray of hot food to people over age 60 -- and their spouses -- who aren't able to get out easily.

Over 200 homes are on the regular delivery route, McClanahan said.

Southeast Hospital had a home-delivery program at one time but it wasn't a success, McClanahan said, so the center took over delivery to those households.

For Medicaid clients eligible for weekend meals, McClanahan said, volunteers deliver frozen meals during the week to give recipients coverage during the weekend.

The kitchen cooks for more than 400 people per day, McClanahan added.

That includes the meals on site and delivered, she said.

The program has five routes in town, said McClanahan, and another route covers the southern portion of Cape Girardeau County.

The Jackson senior center covers the northern part with their meal-delivery program, McClanahan added.

"We work together to make the most efficient use of fuel and volunteer time," McClanahan said.

Each van, provided by the center, has the middle seat removed to make coolers easier to carry, Matzen said.

Each van also has a driver and a runner.

Before the volunteers head out, they gather at a table in the center's dining area, and socialize while they go over their printed route for the day.

Sometimes a recipient will call ahead to ask not to have a meal delivered that day, or will have a scheduled appointment or family member visiting, so will call off for the day, McClanahan explained.

Matzen said the goal is to deliver a nice warm meal that isn't all jumbled up.

How is that accomplished?

"Well, we don't tip the container, and we don't juggle the desserts," Matzen said, laughing.

But, he said, in seriousness, another important aspect of the work they do delivering meals is to serve as another line of support for people living on their own.

One volunteer once found a client on the floor after a stroke.

Matzen said he's occasionally run a small errand or two for people he knows can't otherwise easily do it themselves.

"I try to help if I can," he said.

Wendell Watkins, a volunteer for about seven years, said while everyone has their own procedure, the end goal is the same for everyone: helping out people who need it.

"I think we all enjoy it or we wouldn't be doing it," Watkins said.

Volunteer Linda Tansil, a retired professor at Southeast Missouri State University who started volunteering about 15 years ago, summed it up: "We love our people."

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

921 Clark St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.