Meals on Wheels program in Cape Girardeau ending

After 37 years of operation, SoutheastHEALTH's Meals on Wheels program will cease to exist and the Cape Girardeau Senior Center takes over meal delivery with its Homebound Meals program Jan. 1.

The number of people using the service has dwindled over the years because there are more options for meal service and less need, said Nancy Bray, the program's longtime volunteer coordinator. Right now there are only around 20 using the service, she said. Meals on Wheels delivers one hot meal per day to homebound individuals.

"We were out there with a wonderful program when there was nothing else," Bray said. But now there is the senior center, which provides similar service to seniors, and more people are living in retirement communities or assisted living facilities and don't need the service, she said.

Meals on Wheels was for anyone within city limits, regardless of age, who was unable to prepare a meal or had no one else to do it. Homebound Meals will work the same, except county residents are included.

SoutheastHEALTH sent a letter to participants in October informing them that the program would come to an end. The letter said too few people were being served to justify a program that requires dozens of people a day to prepare and deliver meals.

There were times in the past, Bray said, when volunteers delivered more than 100 meals per day. The program charges participants $2.25 per day. All participants in recent years were paying with government assistance.

"Our program was always meant to be self-supporting, not government-funded, and the only thing we took in later years was food stamps," Bray said.

Bray said the hospital made the decision to end the program after studying 10 years of data that showed no upswing in the number of people needing the service.

It wasn't a decision made lightly by the hospital, she said.

Anne Limbaugh began the program in Cape Girardeau in 1974. Her son, James Limbaugh, now works as SoutheastHEALTH's executive vice president of planning and business development. The program was supported by donations from the community and the Cape Girardeau County Medical Alliance and Southeast Hospital Auxiliary. Costs were kept down because volunteers did all the delivery and the meals were essentially the same as a hospital meal.

Bray said while the goal of Meals on Wheels was to deliver meals to participants, it was really a two-part program.

"It has been more than just taking food. It has been about the contact the clients have had with our drivers," she said.

The program has provided nourishment for the body and the soul, she said. Many participants over the years have commented on how much they enjoy the visits.

The senior center can often charge Medicaid for the meals it will deliver if participants qualify and are over the age of 63, said Susan McClanahan, administrator of the senior center. Those who don't qualify for the assistance are asked to make a contribution of $3 per meal.

Bray said arrangements have already been made for participants so there will be no interruption in meal service.

A new route

The senior center's program currently delivers meals to 165 people in Cape Girardeau County. The center will add another route to its service to take on the 20 or so Meals on Wheels participants.

"We want to help senior adults, and we hope that by delivering meals they can stay in their homes longer and be independent," McClanahan said.

The new route will require an extra driver and food runner each day, so the center needs to find a minimum of 10 volunteers per week.

"It's a lot to come up with," McClanahan said. "We use around 20 volunteers per day now with the routes we have."

Many of the Meals on Wheels volunteers came from local churches. Bray said some of the volunteers from Meals on Wheels will carry over their service to Homebound Meals.

McClanahan said several churches have called to say they will continue to volunteer to deliver the meals, while several others have said they no longer want to participate, either because they have an aging congregation or because volunteers do not want to drive the vans the center uses. Meals on Wheels volunteers drove their own vehicles.

The center uses its minivans for delivery with Homebound Meals and pays for gas. Routes for the program take between an hour and two hours per day to complete, McClanahan said.

Calls that come to the hospital for Meals on Wheels service requests will be referred to the senior center's staff.

McClanahan said people who want to volunteer to deliver on the new route can call the senior center at 335-1352 or stop by the center at 921 N. Clark Ave. in Cape Girardeau.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

921 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO

1701 Lacey St., Cape Girardeau, MO