By Angela Bryant Starke - July 1, 2008 – From the AARP Bulletin print edition

Soaring Prices Hit Meal Programs

Margie Gessinger, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, delivers meals once a week to older people, the homebound and others in need. She’s seen a change recently.

“I have an SUV, and [the price of gas] is eating my paycheck. I know volunteers are canceling because I’ve had to come in to cover for other people,” says Gessinger, who lives in Baltimore.

As gas prices rise and volunteers pull back, many monetary donors are also cutting back on contributions.

In June the Meals on Wheels Association of America reported a 30 percent reduction in the frequency of delivered meals among 277 of its programs. Some programs that once delivered hot meals daily now save gas by making weekly deliveries of one hot meal and four frozen meals. Many program organizers also lament the decreased contact with homebound people.

At LifeCare Alliance in Columbus, Ohio, the meal program has kept up daily deliveries, but it’s struggling with the cost of raw food and a new fuel surcharge from vendors.

“What we’re finding is a crisis situation,” says Enid Borden, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels. “It’s a life-and-death issue.”

Read my commentary below

I can relate to the importance of the meals on wheels program having experienced their service first hand as my late Fathers caregiver. He received what our city called the “home delivered meals program”. Hot meals provided to seniors unable to get to the community center, we called it meals-on-wheels. Personally I called it a blessing, for more reasons then giving my dad a hot meal.

Dad couldn’t walk due to a stroke that took the use of his right side and had to stop his volunteering life. Now it was my turn to take care of him. I was a single dad myself on weekends when the stroke hit. Fortunately I worked the second shift which allowed me to be home a good part of the mornings while my Dad was starting each day. He learned how to get in, out & off the bed, wheelchair and toilet as well as empty his catheter bag on his own. As well as make him self a basic meal with one hand.

Everyday, Monday thru Friday between 10:30 to 12 noon a hot meal was delivered by a friendly face of a volunteer. Everyday they came it gave my Father had a reason to get into his wheelchair and make himself presentable. I can’t count the times I’d walk by and see him and the back of his wheelchair facing the closed door. His head down in pray before he finally opened the door to greet the new day. And when his timing was right or patience and strength held out, he’d meet the volunteer and always snapped to a joyous greeting when a meal was deliver. Though the moment was brief, it made his day.

Dad wasn’t hungry for the food. He’d usually saved it for dinner when I was at work. He was there to smile and say hello and thank you. He seemed to make it his mission to cheer the delivery people as long as he was strong enough. See a friendly face other than mine I know made his day a little more pleasant. For me to see and hear him lighten up even for a moment was nice was one of life’s little pleasures I kept to myself. I’d like to this moment to thank every volunteer and caregiver for the little things you do that mean a lot to those you interact with. You’re Angels on Earth, Keep Up The Good Work!

Another benefit of a daily meal delivery was that I knew someone was looking in on my Father. Thousands of elderly are not looked in on a regular basis. Many times I would be outside or just coming home from errands and they always made sure he was o.k. If he was not up to meet him they would go to the back of the house to check on him. It was part of the volunteers’ job. I hate to imagine how many people will be lost because they are only visited one day a week. .

One year I had to work the day shift and knowing they came by was more then a comfort it was a necessity. They became a part of our schedule between myself and caregivers. I would say goodbye at 9a.m. I knew Meals-On-Wheels came by noon and a caregiver came at 2 and by 5 he’d go to the bathroom then back to bed. By 6 he’d be comfortable and waiting to greet me or was asleep. Not a good year for both of us but it worked.

Seniors without someone to come home to them or cannot function as well as previous years with hearing, vision and mobility issues…. They run the risk of Not Getting Help that could save their life. A part of our volunteers’ job was to make sure the environment was a healthy environment and report any neglect as far as safety and hygiene was concerned.

My point is that the daily Meals-On Wheels programs are more than delivering food. For my Father they were a reason to get up you in the morning and open the door and feel good to be able to healthy enough to greet a fellow volunteer. For me it was a comfort to know that he was able to see and be seen by a human being other then myself. There are thousands of home bound people that will suffer from and even die if one of societies better services is degraded to once a week delivery.

My tribute to AARP I would like to thank AARP for reminding me of this importance issue. One I do not need, yet. But I am sure there are tens of thousands that do need it, today and tomorrow.

I look forward to every Monthly Magazine and the Bulletin and read them from cover to cover. I encourage readers of all ages to read your publications. They are filled with so many different subjects that involve all of us now. Keep up the good work of reminding us about important issues that affect everyone’s future. www.AARP.org , it’s Good Stuff read it and become a member, and learn how you can make a difference.

Sincerely, Gerald Collins
Founder & CEO of,
www.RegretToInform.com

At this moment I am writing “Hurricane Gustav” has not hit land but is due tomorrow. This time people are evacuating by the thousands. I wonder if the will do this again, and again if the storm is not so bad this time?

It’s hurricane season again, and as usual the weather watch is in full swing. This is time the warnings and predictions time again, when Mother Nature comes up from the South to “reek havoc” or “prepare this fertile land for next season”, I guess is just how you look at it.

I live in California and we have our own natural disasters to contend with. Currently we have the technology to “warn” us of pending destruction by Mother Nature (but not earthquakes). Come to think of it in Southern Calif; the warnings signals/siren, tells me to turn on the TV or radio because if a tidal wave was coming it’s not likely to go to far inland. Hurricanes & tornadoes I’d be inside & we don’t get them here,yet. Earthquakes daa, if that happens, we  will all know before the siren button can be turned on. I

Unfortunately we cannot predict Earthquakes, we can anticipate mud slides and see brush fires, title waves don’t affect most of us. All of which would strike within minutes or a few hours. And as for a tsunami personally, I don’t live on the coastline. Ten days of torrential rains like the ones a hurricane can bring would be just as destructive to our infrastructure and daily life for a few days.

Living in the mid-west knowing every year I could lose everything, is mind boggling to me. Just as for those that never experienced an earthquake, it is also mind boggling. To both of us it is usually no big deal. It’s what we all deal with and a part of life, in and out of the big city.

Those living in Hurricane Paths and Tornado Alley, have some warning systems in place. And this time with Gustav pending and evacuation in progress from what I see in the news civilians’ government agencies are doing a great job. Of course I only see in the news an organized evacuation on the highways and trains.

I am not in this great exodus. But I have compassion for the families I see on the move to survive. A father wearing a blue collar long sleeve shirt walking as normal, holding hands with his children one on each side and one on his shoulders. The only other possession visible was a manila folder.

I couldn’t help think what that man had in that folder. Birth certificates, insurance policies, bank numbers and important phone numbers most likely. Then I thought of what would happen if he dropped it in the wind and what else he could be doing with his arms free of that folder. I imagine he would be hugging his family when they needed it and had the time.

I built this site for people like this man. For people that have the sense enough to value family over property. People that prepare for their future know the have bought all the insurance to rebuild and face diversity in the eye. As long as they can retrieve the documents needed after an unwanted circumstance happens and the dust has settled. Then is the time to deal with your secondary priorities.

I built this Online Vault for messages& documents for myself the way I wanted it. I’ve incorporating the best security systems available today ( the same systems banks use and I use VeriSign, a leader in encrypted data transfer). I built it for myself, for all my personal messages and documents to be delivered after I pass away.

You can also benefit from an online vault or safe deposit box. It is a relatively new industry and there are very few companies that offer this service. They cost not much less then the $100 annual fee that I charge. Except they do not offer the ability to upload multi media, meaning videos, music, scanned documents and photo slideshows all combined to make artistic messages as well as straight forward text only file cabinet type pages. And they do not have to consider the sensitivity of access restrictions we have to maintain because our members material will remain longer then our members and cannot be replaced.

No matter what happens, we as humans will survive and rebuild. With help from sites like ours you can make your plan to rebuild your life easier. Find yourself an online safe deposit box and don’t worry about the paperwork…

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After hurricane Gustav passes whether it is devastating or a false alarm do not take future warnings lightly. Prepare, perform and persist to continue caring for yourself and those around you.

God Bless and count your blessings, remember we are all in this World together and will help when the chips are down. Unfortunately, it will most likely be after the damage is done.

FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, LISTEN TO ALL THE WARNING SIGNS NOW AND IN THE FUTURE AND BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST AND HOPE FOR THE BEST.