Residents who are signed up to get deliveries from the Tucker County Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program will start seeing their food brought to their doorstep in a brand new Subaru Outback.
Tucker County is one of 50 Meals on Wheels programs nationwide to receive a new Subaru. Jessica Wamsley, Assistant Director of the Tucker County Senior Center, displayed the vehicle during the grand opening of Oak Barrel Processing in Parsons. She applied for a grant that was giving away the 50 new Subarus last summer.
“Tucker County is very fortunate to be one of three recipients in West Virginia to receive of one of the new Subaru Outbacks,” she said. “We have hundreds of miles of one lane roads and many residents on those roads who need meals. This new vehicle will enable us to deliver food to people in need during any type of weather.”
Each month the Tucker County Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program delivers hundreds of meals throughout the area. Wamsley said that the program is important to senior citizens who live alone and do not eat nutritional meals due to cost or time to cook for one person.
“The social aspect of the program is very important too,” she said. “Often times the only interaction a homebound senior may have on a given day is with the Meals on Wheels delivery person. You are not only delivering meals but you also are checking in on them.”
In order to qualify as a recipient of the new Subaru, Wamsley attended the national Meals on Wheels conference in Denver, Col. in August.
“I’m very thankful for the help and financial support the Tucker County Senior Center received for the trip from local groups,” she told the nearly 40 people. “I’d like to thank the Tucker Community Foundation, the St. George Medical Clinic, city of Parsons and the Tucker County Family Resource Network.
Robert Burns, Executive Director for the Tucker Community Foundation, said that assisting programs like the Meals on Wheels program is part of the foundation’s mission.
“The Tucker County Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program provides a valuable program to a vulnerable population,” he said. “We are happy to support this important local program that many seniors in the community depend on for nutritious meals and safety checks.”
Jenkins Subaru of Bridgeport presented the new Subaru to Wamsley earlier this month.
This fall, Subaru donated 50 new vehicles to selected Meals on Wheels programs that will be used in the delivery of about 53,000 meals to 3,700 seniors across 39 states, according to a news release. Subaru has supported the national Meals on Wheels network through its annual philanthropic event, Share the Love, for the last nine years, contributing more than $12 million to Meals on Wheels America and providing more than 1.7 million nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks to seniors.
