Caddo Meals On Wheels Program Needs Community Support

The Caddo Council on Aging kicked off their fourth annual March for Meals program Thursday. It's a month of events designed to raise funds and bring awareness to senior hunger. Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator along with Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover and Shreveport Police Chief Mike Vansant discussed the importance of Caddo's Meals on Wheels program.

Lizzie Smith is one of the seniors in Caddo Parish who depends on Meals on Wheels. But, she says it's not just the meals she looks forward to. "The people," Smith said, " I like the people that bring them." Sherry Stuckey and Jan Turner, managers at the Best Western on Monkhouse Drive, stop by Smith's house 4 times a week to deliver hot, nutritous meals. They deliver to 8 local seniors as part of a volunteer driver program through the Caddo Council on Aging.

Volunteer drivers are saving the council more than $60,000 every year. "We will no longer have a waiting list," Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said, " we'll be able to feed every senior who needs meals." Prator says volunteering only requires 30 minutes out of the day and calls it a "win-win" situation. "The people who are getting the meal love to have company and the people delivering it look forward to it everyday," Prator said, " it's really a great deal and it's not much burden on a company." Volunteers like Sherry call it giving back and in this case, she gets as much as she gives. "It makes us feel like we've done something good today," Stuckey said.
 
If you'd like to become a volunteer or learn more about the Caddo Council on Aging Meals on Wheels program, call (318) 632-2090.