For 12 weekdays in a row, each client receives a wrapped present, so the Ames Building is a hive of busy worker bees decorating over 3,000 packages.

Meanwhile, customers at PetSmart are donating dog and cat food at the Banfield Animal Hospital, where high school students will go to transport the donations to our building.  Volunteers will distribute these to senior pet owners through the winter.

Other volunteers  are hauling tons (literally!) of food from the Whole Foods Market at SouthGlenn, where customers donate dollars to the Grab and Give program.  This provides the foundation of our grocery delivery program all year long.

It’s a happy time when we see so much giving going on!

A “hand up,” on the other hand, has a positive ring to it–help toward self-sufficiency.

When it comes to senior hunger, this is a false dichotemy.

Three out of four people we feed have a low income, but we don’t blame them for this.  Many have outlived the money they worked hard to save when they were younger.  Some found their earning power cut off by an injury, illness, or disability.  They don’t look poor, act poor, or think of themselves as poor.  But they need a helping hand, and most are unable and unlikely to increase their earning power.  For them, self-sufficiency means continuing to live on their own rather than being placed in a public-funded nursing home.

They also deserve to have a hand in our program, so we’re starting a “clients’ advocates council.”  We’ll select some dedicated meal delivery drivers who have proven their sincere concern for the well-being of our meal recipients.  We’ll give these volunteers a short list of topics to help them listen to the clients they visit.  Then, periodically, we’ll convene this council to get some informed engagement on behalf of those we serve.

Tell your friends and vote for TLC Meals on Wheels at www.100carsforgood.com on July 28th.

Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good is an online contest among charitable nonprofit programs. More than 4,000 applied, and 500 nonprofits were selected nationwide as finalists.  For 100 days, five programs compete each day for votes, and one of those five wins a vehicle.

We are hoping to win a new Toyota Highlander to help transport large quantities of donated food from the Whole Foods Market or from the Food Bank of the Rockies (a 40-mile round trip), pick up pet food from four stores in our 95-square mile territory, and carry pans of food for the daily lunch at Sarah Care.  We are fortunate to be able to “pay forward” in-kind food donations by sharing them with local food banks, but the lack of a large vehicle often frustrates us in getting food to them in a timely manner. A large, reliable vehicle would provide a resource for a volunteer whose car isn’t suitable for these tasks.

As our delivery routes grow, a vehicle would also enable us to establish a satellite location where we could drop off meals or groceries to be picked up by volunteers who live a great distance from our kitchen.  Help us win a new car to make an even bigger difference!

A side benefit of this contest is its potential to increase the number of people who learn about TLC Meals on Wheels.  As we draw closer to Saturday, July 28th, we want more and more people to “like” our Facebook page.  By becoming a “fan” of TLC Meals on Wheels, you’ll have access to updates on our activities.  Also, this is a good time to “subscribe” to our “email news updates” by clicking on the link at our Home Page.  Thank you for accepting this invitation to help us win!

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?

“I live with my brat in a high-rise flat so how in the world would I know.”

Actually, that probably describes the situation of many of our clients (not the brat part, but living without access to a garden).  A 75 year old woman who gets less than 30 minutes of exercise a day needs 2 cups of vegetables daily, according to the U.S. Government, in addition to one cup of fruit.  A 75 year old man who gets 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day needs 3 cups of vegetables daily, in addition to two cups of fruit.

Fresh is best!  Home-grown produce that hasn’t been poisoned with pesticides and hasn’t degraded while traveling across the country or from another continent has far more benefits than what many grocery stores offer.

Volunteers with TLC Meals on Wheels are making an effort to get home-grown, fresh produce onto the plates of those who receive our daily lunch.  For one thing, our volunteers have planted a garden in the backyard of the Ames Building where we have our kitchen.  Other volunteers have agreed to keep it watered and weeded until the plants yield healthful vegetables for harvest.

In addition, our volunteers will stop by the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield eight times this summer to collect large quantities of fresh produce for use in our meals or grocery deliveries.  This program is part of a pioneering project called Community Supporting Agriculture, funded by Kaiser Permanente.  No chemical-based herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers are used on these crops.  According to the Denver Botanic Gardens, “In 2011, the Chatfield CSA produced over 11 tons (45,900 lbs.) of produce on three acres of land. Just over two tons (4,188 lbs.) of produce were donated to local nonprofit organizations [such as TLC Meals on Wheels] in the Rocky Mountain region.”

It’s possible we’ll find still more sources for fresh vegetables.  For instance, one of our clients was a master gardener and kept an organic garden in her backyard for 30 years, but now she’s unable to dig, weed, or kneel down to work in it.  She’s willing to water it, but volunteers would need to till it, plant it, and tend to it.  Maybe this is your opportunity to become a gardener!

We believe we provide a helping hand to persons who have a hard time finding useful things to do by including them among our volunteers. So HighPointe, Laradon, and To the Rescue, programs that provide daytime activities for adults with disabilities, all participate with our weekday meal delivery program. Sarah Care, an adult day care program, serves meals we prepare but also sends a group of seniors to help deliver meals each week. The Transitions Program of the Littleton Public Schools has found opportunities for its students to assist by preparing groceries for delivery or helping with other tasks on Thursday mornings.

As for the woman whose dementia nearly got the best of her? The social worker had tears in her eyes as she told me, “The only thing that kept this woman from dying before she went to the hospital was the food your program provided and the daily check-up by your volunteers. Today she’s alive and even feisty!”

Where do you like to help others?

Another volunteer arrived to deliver a meal just as our client was being loaded onto an ambulance, having broken his arm. The volunteer called our office, and our staff contacted the client’s brother, who was extremely grateful. “If you hadn’t notified me, I might not have been able to get to the emergency room to be with my brother for who knows how long?”

On the one hand, we want to do one thing and do it very well—and on the surface, that would seem to be getting healthful food to those who need it. That’s the focus of our business and the concept behind our name. On the other hand, we recognize that the “hunger” of homebound persons in our community is for more than food, for people do not “live by bread alone.”

How should we limit or broaden the scope of what we’re willing to provide for the homebound people in our community?

During the past year, we have established a program to assist disabled pet owners with their veterinary expenses—whether preventative or remedial. One of our clients requested such assistance for her 13-year-old dog, who, she says, once scared away someone who was assaulting her. She’s not the only client who has shed tears of gratitude when one of our drivers brings pet food and a toy for a dog or cat. Pets add to an individual’s cost of living, but they add even more to their quality of life. So we’re glad we can help lonely people keep a pet.

If you were housebound day after day, would you want the companionship of a dog of cat? What do you see as the special challenges and benefits our clients might face as pet owners?