By Anne Ruisi
You could say Meals on Wheels volunteer Linda Stone of Mountain Brook has her very own fan club at Villa Maria Senior Community in Birmingham’s East Lake neighborhood, starting with longtime resident Lucille Crowe.
“She’s terrific,” Crowe said, beaming, as Stone delivered her meals last week for Thursday and Friday’s Veterans Day holiday. “She’s the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been here for 25 years.”
Stone is one of the just more than 400 volunteers who deliver 1,500 meals a day to homebound seniors and disabled people in Jefferson County, said Becky Wright, Meals on Wheels program director. Each day from Monday to Friday, volunteers deliver a smile, a bit of friendly conversation and a filling, nutritionally balanced meal.
The program is based at United Way of Central Alabama in Birmingham. Meals are free of charge and there are no income restrictions on seniors who participate. To qualify, an applicant must be age 60 or older, live in Jefferson County and be homebound and without help to shop for groceries or prepare a meal, according to United Way.
Stone coordinates the 10-member Meals on Wheels volunteer team at her church, Canterbury United Methodist. They rotate in delivering 20 meals to the same recipients each weekday at Villa Maria’s two apartment buildings.
Each volunteer has an assigned day to make deliveries, which works out to be one day every other week. Stone’s schedule means she usually participates every other Monday. It takes about 90 minutes to make the deliveries, she said.
When the Canterbury Meals on Wheels volunteers organized, not all the members were familiar with each other, Stone said.
“I had a little party at my house to make sure everyone knew each other,” she said.
That makes it easier when a scheduling conflict arises; they can swap shifts.
While specific residents who receive meals may change from time to time, there are others who the volunteers see all the time.
“They become our friends,” Stone said.
While delivering food is the primary aim, making the deliveries means the volunteers also can do an informal welfare check on the participants
“We make sure they’re OK,” Stone said, adding that if someone doesn’t open their door to receive the meal, the volunteers can let Meals on Wheels know for follow-up.
Meals and Hugs
A typical delivery day begins at the United Way’s office in Birmingham, where volunteers pick up bags of hot meals ready to go.
Stone and another volunteer, Edie Kitchings of Cahaba Heights, loaded the food into a car last week and took off for East Lake.
At Villa Maria I, they began deliveries on the fourth floor. Resident Dianne Naftel is on their list.
“I think it’s a great service. They are so pleasant, and I feel blessed to have it,” she said.
Dan Lantaff, who lives on the second floor of Villa Maria I, said he loves seeing volunteers like Stone.
“I enjoy their company more than the food,” he said.
During the pandemic, when daily deliveries were restricted, Meals on Wheels volunteers delivered food once a week, Stone said. Every delivery contained a box with frozen meals that participants could eat during the week. Once pandemic conditions eased, regular weekday deliveries resumed.
Stone, a retired pediatrician, became a Meals on Wheels volunteer about a year after retiring from Over the Mountain Pediatrics in 2018. Right after retiring from her 32-year medical career, she “took it easy a bit” and thought about what she wanted to do in the next chapter of her life. While she also is an active member of the Junior League of Birmingham choral group and the choir, Meals on Wheels is “a nice way to be in community with people,” she said.
“Some of them don’t see anyone. I’m not sure some of them have much family. It’s a little bit of a lifeline for them and provides social contact and a meal,” Stone said.
She enjoys the overall experience as a Meals on Wheels volunteer.
“I enjoy meeting people, talking to people,” she said. “I enjoy making a difference in people’s lives. It feeds my soul as well as, hopefully, it feeds theirs.”
As Stone and Kitchings prepared to leave Villa Maria I and head to the complex’s other building, Crowe smiled as she caught Stone’s attention.
“Give me a hug goodbye,” she said, a request Stone answered with a big smile of her own.
