This is incredible! During the entire pandemic, Mobile Meals of High Point continued to deliver food five days a week without missing a day. I have always been impressed with the work of Mobile Meals, but that just totally amazed me when virtually everything was in shut-down mode. This is made even more incredible because this is an all-volunteer organization, and many of these volunteers are senior citizens!
It had been two years since Mobile Meals of High Point, not to be confused with Meals on Wheels and is government-funded, hosted its Thank You Volunteers and School Staff Luncheon. It was held at Forest Hills Presbyterian Church for the Mobile Meal volunteer leaders of the churches and organizations who make the deliveries. The luncheon also recognized the school staff at Triangle Lake Montessori School who have prepared the lunches since 2014.
It was befitting that the luncheon was held at Forest Hills Presbyterian Church. This church delivers Mobile Meals on Christmas Day! How do I know that? At 8 am on Christmas Day I arrived at Martha Yarborough’s home and we, along with Becky Parrish, Maggy Linka, and Deborah Edwards, set out to deliver two routes. I went to parts of High Point I had never been before. In addition to the hot meal prepared by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center each were given a pair of socks, cookies, and some candy. Though it took a while for some to answer the door, their faces were bright with smiles. It was a wonderful way to start Christmas Day.
This experience brought an “up close and personal” appreciation to exactly what the volunteers of Mobile Meals of High Point do every single week. As people arrived at the luncheon it was like a homecoming as there were hugs of appreciation and lots of conversation. I also learned that in addition to delivering on Christmas, Mobile Meals delivers on Thanksgiving thanks to the volunteers of Greater First United Baptist Church.
Board Member David Penley welcomed everyone with thanks as he said, “This ministry is incredibly important in this community to feed our seniors and shut-ins. Your work is just incredible.”
Board Member Cheryl Cook said, “A lot of change has occurred in our lives the last couple of years, but the one thing that is constant is Mobile Meals. I hope each of you know Mobile Meals did not miss a day, and we did not miss anybody on our routes. That is thanks to each of you and your volunteers.”
One volunteer attending was 92-year-old Margret Angel of Jamestown Baptist Church. Even though she uses a walker to get around, that does not deter her from volunteering for Mobile Meals. She is the routing coordinator for her church.
Cook also talked about the importance of these volunteers in the lives of the people they serve. “Our volunteers not only care about taking a meal to these people but also care about watching over them.” For instance, if a meal is left in a cooler from the previous day, that is a red flag and there is a follow-up to check on that individual. These are caring people. This is High Point.
Cook told me an interesting story. Mobile Meals is registered as a non-profit with no government funding, and everyone is a volunteer. Mobile Meals pays a set rate for the meals. There is no cost to the recipients. Several years ago, a government representative visited the organization and asked Cook, “Where is your office?” Her response was, “Anyone’s kitchen table!”
Board member Mary Beth Yates recounted the history of High Point’s Mobile Meals starting in 1972, when a group called Congregate Meals Program for the Elderly served meals five days a week from the Fourth Street YWCA and First United Methodist Church funded by the Older Americans Act. Under this early program the seniors and disabled had to pick up their meals.
So, in 1975 a group of women from Church Women United, made up of women from all the churches in High Point, and the Council of Jewish Women decided there had to be a better way. That was the beginning of Mobile Meals as it exists today. Mobile Meals began working with Guilford County Schools to provide the meals, and in 1976 the NC General Assembly authorized the use of school cafeterias to help feed the elderly and infirm.
Yates said, “Immediately 15 churches and four civic organizations started working together with Mobile Meals to get volunteers to deliver meals directly to people in their homes. Tomlinson School first provided the meals, followed by Montlieu Elementary and now provided by Triangle Lake Montessori School. They (cafeteria staff) don’t get paid any extra money, so I think everybody needs to say thank you. Atrium Baptist Health of High Point now makes the nutritious meals during long school breaks, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Yates added the qualifications for a meal make sense for our High Point community. It is “basically someone could benefit from a hot, nutritious meal. It is not about income. Today we serve hot meals to about 100 people a day.”
She added, “Mobile Meals relies on a few things to keep us going, and that’s time, talent, and treasures! It’s your time as volunteer coordinators getting people there on those routes, Vivian (Scott) and her staff at Triangle to get those meals, the talents of our volunteers making these folks feel so welcome and finally there’s the treasures, money. Thanks to each of you for giving those treasures as well to your churches who keep us going, your organizations who provide us with donations the memorials you may send.”
Board chair Trish Mendenhall also thanked the volunteers. “In March of 2020 when the governor said we were closing down, I thought, ‘What will we do about Mobile Meals?’ The schools stayed open to feed the children. You all bought gloves, masks, and you went off and you did what you did. Nobody hesitated. We truly are a mission group. This is a labor of love. When people volunteer, they do it because they love helping people.”
Thank you, Mobile Meals, for your compassionate delivery of meals while fostering relationships in our High Point Community. If you would like to donate, send to PO Box 6666 High Point, NC 27262.
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