Rotary Notes 2/1/17
Our speakers  were Colleen Lesniak and Ann from Walworth County Health and Human Services. They talked to us about Meals on Wheels which is part of the County Nutrition Program. HHS has lots of volunteer opportunities and Meals on Wheels is just one of them. There are six senior dining centers in the county. They have 500 volunteers just for the Meals on Wheels program but they are looking for more. The average age of their volunteers is 72-74 and many go south for the winter or do not like to drive in bad weather. They have 13 routes in the county and 129-150 recipients for meals every day. They are specifically looking for drivers on Thursdays and Fridays once every five weeks for the Elkhorn route at this time and want to know if our club is interested in volunteering.  If we have multiple people from Rotary interested, we would only have to volunteer a few times a year. It takes about an hour to drive the route.
Can Do Industries in Janesville prepares the meals. They are getting more nutritious which the people do not always appreciate! A dietician decides what is included in the meals. HHS is required to ask for a donation but not everyone is able to give. The average donation is $2 per meal. Drivers do not collect this, the recipients are billed. Meals on Wheels is funded with grant money from the Older Americans Act, which was enacted in 1965.