The Tippetts deliver about 20 meals on any given Thursday to 60-or-older people in Lovell. They are part of a fleet of 20 volunteers that deliver meals every week to senior citizens in Byron, Cowley, Deaver, Frannie and the surrounding areas, averaging 340 meals per week.
“I enjoy it, just seeing all the people and making sure they’re feeling good,” Loretta said. Some of the customers order meals regularly – every day of every week- and others come and go as the menu changes, she said.
They offer selections such as Salisbury steak, baked chicken, baked fish, meatloaf, sweet and sour pork, barbeque pork sandwiches, braised beef and hamburgers. The meals come with milk and a variety of side dishes that provide for a well-balanced diet, such as fruits, vegetables, pasta and bread. Many of the meals also come with dessert. In the truck, a hot meal tray is kept in a warming box while the cold portion is kept separate.
The food is nutritional. Every meal is based on guidelines from the U.S. Dept. of Health, and diabetic-friendly meals are available by request.
After the Tippetts arrive at the senior center and load their truck with food, they head into Lovell to make deliveries. The roads are plastered with packed snow and they drive slowly, but the route still only takes about an hour to complete.
They pull up to the first stop. Frank – a regular – who is anxious to attest to the quality of food and how much he likes getting a hot meal delivered to his doorstep. He and Loretta chat for a minute before she heads back to the truck.
Customers are happy to get their meal and delighted to visit with Loretta. And customers have been increasing lately, as the center now delivers more than 200 meals per week. Jerry said maybe it’s because of the cold weather, or maybe because you can’t beat the price - just $2.50 for a hot meal, delivered (60 and older, please).
To qualify for meals on wheels, seniors must be physically ill and/or homebound have a temporary or permanent condition that makes it hard for them to leave the house. The Tippetts agreed that it’s tough when customers are hurt or sick, but they enjoy visiting and trying to make them feel better.
Lovell’s Meals on Wheels program has “a multitude of funding sources,” Senior Center Director Denise Andersen said, including federal, state and local funds, as well as income from selling meals. Andersen is responsible for writing and applying for grants to fund senior center programs, which, in her 16 years at the center, has become more demanding, she said. The operations are help in large part by senior service district.
“We’re a non-profit organization,” Andersen said, “we’re not a federal, state or local program, but we’re all of it.”
The drivers and other volunteers, or the “unsung heroes,” are much appreciated and necessary for the program to function, Andersen said.
“Their contribution to the program is invaluable,” she said. “I don’t know how we’d do it without them.”
Ed Reginer and Loretta Tippetts laugh during a lunch delivery last week.
“It’s a pleasure to visit with people,” Jerry said. He usually drives the truck, but gets a chance to say hello to several people along the route. He likes to volunteer because it helps a lot of people around town who aren’t able to pick up their own food.
“It’s one of the government programs I can say I’m for,” he said.
Another customer, Kay Loran, sits on a couch inside her colorful house surrounded by pets – fish, a dog and several squawking birds. She is making paper art, peacocks and Japanese birds carefully crafted out of curled strips of thin paper. She presents me a refrigerator magnet with a paper flower that reads: “My favorite thing to make for dinner: reservations,” a slogan that fits well with meals on wheels.
The meals are also available to people 60 and older to eat at the senior center.
The senior center is always looking for new volunteers, Andersen said. Call the senior center at 548-6556 if interested.