BREWER, Maine — High prices at the pump are putting a strain on many of us drivers. The cost of fuel is also having an impact on some social programs, including Meals on Wheels.
Meals on Wheels is a program that provides meals to seniors 60 years old and older. To qualify, seniors must be housebound and unable to afford or prepare their own food. This service depends on volunteers to drive each meal to those who need them.
Rebecca Kirk is the executive director of Eastern Area Agency on Aging in Brewer, which serves as a Meals on Wheels distribution hub. Kirk said some of their volunteers are considering no longer delivering meals until the cost of gas goes down.
"[Meals on Wheel] is a lifeline for a lot of the older citizens in Maine, and cutting off that lifeline would just seem like an unbearable decision for us to have to make," Kirk told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Kirk said many of their 143 volunteer drivers are living on a fixed income.
“We’re so grateful that no volunteers have called up and just said ‘Today’s my last day. I’m not going to do this anymore,’" Kirk said. "They have warned us, 'If this continues, I won’t be able to help the program.' And that has caused us to have to say, ‘Wow. If this continues and they can’t help the program what are we going to do?’ We are very concerned.”
Versant Power has donated $1,000 in support of the Meals on Wheels drivers. The 40 $25 gas cards will be prioritized for volunteers with the longest routes.
“We’re going to be working very closely with our supervisors," Kirk said. "Particularly in the rural areas where volunteers are driving hundreds of miles to deliver meals to be able to make sure the gas cards are getting to the volunteers who need them the most.”
Versant Power communications specialist Amanda Cummings said they wanted to help volunteers in the quickest and best way possible.
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“We know the pandemic has brought about increased demand for the Meals on Wheels Program and distribution of the meals is a really important aspect of that," Cummings said. "So, if we could do a little bit to support that we thought it was the right thing to do.”
Eastern Area Agency on Aging is always looking for more Meals on Wheels volunteers. Kirk said the need for more drivers is especially great in Hancock County right now. To sign up as a volunteer visit eaaa.org.