I decided I needed to "get involved" with something worthwhile here in the "big city", so I contacted Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County, Inc. Now I delivered for Brownwood Meals on Wheels for quite a few years before I left and figured I knew all about it.
W R O N G !
This is a major organization (note the Inc. after their name) with quite a few paid employees, a large building and an enormous kitchen where their 4,000 meals are prepared daily. No Brownwood Regional Hospital meals for them.
During the hour and a half meeting, I took notes and will share the factual differences with you.
Brownwood has 4 routes, Early has one or two (not sure) and the Lake has one or two also. Tarrant County has 197 routes currently delivering. Tarrant county includes Ft. Worth, Arlington and all the suburbs around such as Saginaw, Bedford, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, etc. The delivering is done by individuals, not teams (unless the person driving finds a partner and gets that person "approved"). By approved, I mean, background check, orientation, etc. They endeavor to schedule volunteers to deliver in their immediate neighborhood, which makes me a little more comfortable doing this.
The 19 people who attended orientation today will be put on the substitute list, since all the current routes are "taken".
Brownwood's meals cost just over $3.00 (the last time I heard) while the T C meals cost $5 each. T.C. delivers a "shelf stable" breakfast each day for the next day and some clients receive frozen meals on Friday to tide them over the weekend. Not everyone, just certain recipients. Not sure who or why.
One hundred fifty new clients are approved each month with approval being granted by M. on W. case managers who visit with clients every 3 months. In Brownwood, approval comes from the client's doctor.
In 2009, over 4,000 people volunteered for M on W, Tarrant County, Inc. In Brownwood, 12 people deliver each week, with the same people delivering every 7-9 weeks.
In Bwd, all volunteers congregate at the hospital to pick up the meals for their routes. T C has 6 vans that deliver meals to 43 pick-up sites throughout the area.
One other interesting difference, in Bwd, we delivered on all the major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc) Tarrant County doesn't deliver then and sometimes for a day before or after a holiday--they do, however, provide a frozen meal before the holiday so that the client does not go without.
Bwd's M on W is supported solely by donations from individuals and churches with administration provided by the Red Cross. T C's M on W is supported by Federal funds, Grants by the Dept of Agriculture, and groups to assist the Aged, and donations.
I will be called this week sometime to "ride along" with a volunteer who is working a route in my neighborhood. Once that is accomplished, I'll be on the substitute list.
As I was telling N the differences between the two programs, she said "Well, Mom, you're not in Kansas anymore"!
1 comment:
Earlene, my name is Jessica with Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County. I work on the development team and not on the volunteer side, but I saw this blog post in my Google alerts and wanted to comment.
I know I speak for everyone here in welcoming you as a new volunteer. We take pride in the way our agency is run and the steps we take to ensure the health and safety of our clients. We could not do it without the help of enthusiastic volunteers like you!
I would like to tell you who receives weekend meals, since you left confused about that: clients who are classified as having the greatest need on days when we don't deliver. Some clients have family members or friends who are able to help on the weekend but not during the work week; other clients are truly alone every day of the week. We still want to help even when we can't be there.
Have you gone on your "ride along" yet? I write the blog for our agency and would love to have you as a guest blogger to tell about your ride along or anything else related to Meals On Wheels that you would like to write about. Our readers (and I) would love reading your opinions and perspective, especially since you have volunteer experience at a different Meals On Wheels agency. My e-mail address is jessica (at) mealsonwheels (dot) org.
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