CoA Celebrates March for Meals Month and Comes Full Circle for Community Member

March 2023 was a huge success in raising awareness among Gladwin County’s community leaders on senior hunger and the work that the Council on Aging (CoA), Gladwin County, is doing to combat this ever growing need.

March for Meals is a yearly campaign that Meals on Wheels participating organizations celebrate by inviting community leaders and members to join their meal program to raise awareness for their programs and the need in their community.

This year in Gladwin County, the CoA started March for Meals preparations in January. Along with inviting community leaders, CoA staff attended the Gladwin County Board of Commissioners meeting on January 24th, where the Commissioners made a proclamation, declaring that March 2023 will be recognized as March for Meals Month in Gladwin County.  A month later, at the Gladwin City Council Meeting, CoA staff again attended to share information on their meal program and the City Council members also made a proclamation on February 20th that March 2023 will be recognized as March for Meals Month in the City of Gladwin.

The CoA hosted multiple members from both the County Commissioners and City Council during the March for Meals Community Champions week and other familiar faces from Gladwin County throughout the month of March.

Community member, Stacey Dorais, was the first person to participate in March for Meals. She signed up after hearing the CoA staff speak at the Gladwin City Council meeting. She helped out by serving meals at the Maple Manor dining center on March 3rd.

Kicking off Community Champions week, Gladwin City Mayor and 211 Director, Sarah Kile and Gladwin City Council Member, Cristy Gutierrez went to the Antler Arms dining center on March 20th. Gutierrez helped prep meals in the Antler Arms kitchen and then rode along on a meal route out of the Maple Manor with our meal driver, Jody Johnson. Mayor Kile then took over at Antler Arms and helped serve meals to the congregate meal participants. When asked what her favorite part of participating in this year’s March for Meals was, Mayor Kile replied, “Seeing the hard work that goes into this amazing program and meeting participants.”

Next to join the CoA staff and seniors was long time March for Meals attendee, Gladwin County Sheriff, Mike Shea. This year, Sheriff Shea rode along on a meal route out of Antler Arms on Tuesday, March 21st with driver, Kathy Swingle, who also happens to be the Sheriff’s cousin. “This is a much needed service for our community. It's the only interaction many of the clients have," Sheriff Shea said when asked what he learned during his time delivering meals.

Gladwin County Commissioner, Karen Moore participated on two different days during Community Champions week. She served meals and worked in the Antler Arms kitchen on March 22nd and rode along on a meal route out of Beaverton Manor, with CoA meal driver, Chrissy Sharpsteen, on March 24th.

For his first time, community member and CoA advisory member for the Region VII Board, Dan Sheehan, rode along on a meal route out of the Billings Township Hall dining center with meal driver, Elsie Trumble, on March 23rd. “Riding with Elsie was a real pleasure, and meeting the folks as we made 16 deliveries was a real eye opener,” Sheehan said. “There is a great need for services such as Meals on Wheels. Many of our seniors are isolated, with little family support, and food is expensive, especially to those on limited incomes.”

The second Gladwin County Commissioner, Tami O’Donnell rode along on a Beaverton Manor meal site route, with meal driver, Chrissy Sharpsteen, on March 23rd. She decided to join in on the March for Meals campaign this year after CoA Executive Director, Lori Stout, spoke about the need for support for their meal programs at a commissioners meeting. After her ride-along, O’Donnell was asked what her favorite part of the day was. Her response was “Meeting all the people! Riding along with Chrissy too, she is a sweetie.”

After wrapping up Community Champions week, the CoA had one last person sign up to help deliver meals. Gladwin City Council Member, Carol Darlington, road along on a Maple Manor meal site route, with meal driver, Jody Johnson, on March 28th. She also brought along carnations for each client on the meal route. Darlington knew a little about the CoA’s meal program before coming, but learned how essential the meal program in Gladwin really is. “The home delivered meal program is such an essential service for not only food, but to have face-to-face contact, five days a week, with many community members that are alone,” Darlington said. “Visiting with the wonderful people we delivered to was such a blessing. It would be an honor to serve again.”

This year, the CoA will be celebrating its 50th year serving meals in Gladwin County. In December, 1973 they started with two congregate meal sites, Beaverton and Gladwin. Patricia Dillon worked for the CoA back in 1975, then Patricia Dickenson, and remembers turning the wheels to get a home delivered meal program started up.

“We saw a need for the people who couldn’t come to the meal sites,” Dillon said, “and I took it to the Commissioners.”

Dillon explained that the home-delivered meal program started out as just volunteers putting meals into the back of their cars and delivering them to a handful of people. At the beginning, Dillon saw the need and one example of a success, which made her know that the program would be a great benefit. She delivered to two men, whose health greatly improved after receiving the home-delivered meals. After a doctor’s appointment that one of the two men had, Dillon received a phone call.

“It was the doctor,” Dillon said. “He congratulated us, because both men were in much better shape since starting up our meals. They had started out malnourished. But our meals, which provide ¼ of your recommended daily nutrition, helped them.”

Once word caught on, more people began to sign up and with the groundwork set by Dillon and other staff during that time, the program evolved into the meal program that it is today in partner with Meals on Wheels of America.

Even 50 years later, the CoA is still providing services for donations only.

“Gladwin County is a poor county,” Dillon said. “The seniors we served couldn’t afford to pay (in 1975) so our drivers would sometimes receive doilies as payment for their meals. It was a proud generation and they didn’t want anything for free.”

The CoA still provides meals at a suggested donation price. They provide services based on need, not income.

Dillon not only assisted in starting up the home-delivered meal program that the CoA celebrates with March for Meals, but she and her husband now receive the meals, bringing the program full circle for her.

“It really does help,” Dillon said.

From starting out in 1973 with just two in-person meal sites, to now delivering meals to over 200 seniors in Gladwin County out of four meal sites on nine meal routes, the CoA is ever expanding to meet the needs of this county’s seniors.

“Thank you to the wonderful staff that works so well together to help meet needs in Gladwin County,” said Darlington after her ride-along. “You’ve made Gladwin a better place to call home!”