Main Line Meals on Wheels Continues to Service Residents in need

The organization remains a Main Line fixture.

“There’s no way we can shut down,” said Erika Bhatia, Executive Director of Main Line Meals on Wheels. “People depend on us.”

Main Line Meals on Wheels is a stand-alone nonprofit organization that delivers meals to senior citizens, people with disabilities and to anyone else who is homebound or who cannot shop for themselves.

The organization is independently run, but it is also a chapter member of Meals on Wheels America. The Main

According to the national website, Meals on Wheels is the only federally supported program designed specifically to meet the nutritional and social needs of seniors. Unfortunately, this successful public-private partnership remains significantly underfunded. (Cited at https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/learn-more/the-issue?gclid=Cj0KCQjwyur0BRDcARIsAEt86IDpJ9mrKX4nxDvtiLXDR8Pg8-eWNbrBSbTvrkMOHNAxlpgm3oekEJkaAlQtEALw_wcB)

The Main Line chapter formed in 1972, by individuals who were part of other Meals on Wheels chapters. Bhatia said that they realized that certain senior citizens would greatly benefit from the service. She elaborated that in 1972, they serviced about 24 individuals, and now that number has risen to approximately 125.

Bhatia started out as a Main Line Meals on Wheels volunteer in 2005. She had ample free time, a desire to help the community, and hoped that her service would inspire her children to become Main Line Meals on Wheels volunteers. Her plan worked. They now volunteer during the summer.

Bhatia said that Meals on Wheels does a lot more than just deliver meals.

“It not only provides nutrition, and nourishment to those who are unable to provide it for themselves, but it also provides social interaction and a safety check for one’s physical wellbeing,” said Bhatia.

Bhatia said that the volunteers who deliver meals sometimes come into the person’s house, bring the food to the kitchen and put it in the refrigerator. The volunteers would often have brief conversations with the consumers to make sure that they were fine. She elaborated that Meals on Wheels relieves the stress and anxiety of their consumers who cannot buy or prepare food on their own.

“Studies show that less stress increases the life expectancy,” said Bhatia.

Sharing a Special Memory

Bhatia remembered that when she delivered the meals, she one day entered the apartment of one of their customers who was a wheelchair user.

“Although he had a bracelet that he used to call an ambulance, he wasn’t wearing it and he couldn’t reach for it either,” said Bhatia. “He was lying on the floor, waiting for Meals on Wheels to come and then call the ambulance for him. That really stuck with me. While he had the support system of the bracelet, if I hadn’t been a visitor, if I hadn’t brought him his food, he could have been lying there for another day or two before someone might have come by and called the ambulance.”

Unfortunately, Main Line Meals on Wheels is unable to use brand new volunteers during this pandemic. If a current volunteer recommends someone, the organization might consider it.

“We pair up new volunteers with experienced deliverers, but now we can’t do that because of social distancing,” said Bhatia.

Due to the stay six feet apart rule, socializing with the customers is nearly non-existent. Meals are left on the door-step in a cooler or on a door-handle for the consumers to retrieve. Because the deliverers cannot stay and talk with the consumers, volunteers phone them once every other week just to check up on them.

The meals come from Bryn Mawr Hospital. Prior to the pandemic, volunteers helped package the food in the hospital kitchen, now only the hospital kitchen staff can do that. As a result, the consumers sometimes have a longer wait before their meals are delivered to them.

COVID-19 created unforeseen expenses. Main Line Meals on Wheels must provide gloves for their volunteers and plastic bags to deliver the food in. Volunteers must supply their own face masks. Main Line Meals on Wheels needs financial contributions and non-perishable food items. Non-perishable food items could be delivered to their consumers in case Meals on Wheels is forced to shut down temporarily.

To learn more about Main Line Meals on Wheels, log onto www.Mainlinemealsonwheels.org.