www.thepapersonline.com
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties
Know Your Neighbor. . . . . 2➤ Good Neighbors . . . . . . . . . . . 4 It’s Tax Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Vol. 52, No. 31
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
Mobile Meals — /HIW 3,&.,1* 83 0($/6 ³ 0DUN DQG .DUHQ 6SULQJHU SLFN XS 0RELOH 0HDOV DW .RVFLXVNR &RP PXQLW\ +RVSLWDO LQ :DUVDZ ZKLOH -HQQLIHU %X]]DUG IDU OHIW ORRNV RQ .DUHQ KDV EHHQ GHOLYHULQJ 0RELOH 0HDOV IRU DOPRVW \HDUV +(/3,1* 7+( +20(%281' ³ &LQG\ +XQWHU OHIW DQG 5RQ &KDPEHUV GHOLYHU 0RELOH 0HDOV WR WKH KRPHERXQG 0RELOH 0HDOV GULY HUV GHOLYHU D KRW OXQFK ÀYH GD\V D ZHHN H[FHSW KROLGD\V ´, GR LW EH FDXVH , ORYH LW µ VPLOHG +XQWHU ZKR GHOLYHUV WZR GD\V D ZHHN
delivering more than just a hot lunch 7H[W DQG 3KRWRV %\ 3+2(%( 087+$57 6WDII :ULWHU Mobile Meals provides a hot, nutritious lunch five days a week, thanks to an army of volunteers. Jennifer Buzzard, Kosciusko Community Senior Services Home Delivered Meals coordinator, said there are eight routes in Kosciusko County — six from Kosciusko Community Hospital in Warsaw and two from Harvest Coffee in Milford. Currently, Mobile Meals has 130 drivers. She said she needs about 100 more volunteers. “We are still short drivers,” said Buzzard. “We need eight drivers a day.” In the winter, some volunteers go to Florida or other warm destinations. This is when service clubs, such as Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, Young Adult Professionals and Leesburg Lions step in to help. Yet, said Buzzard, drivers are needed in the summer, too, and other times of the year. “We always need drivers,” she said. Volunteers deliver more than just a hot lunch. The visits are also welfare checks. With 85 elderly clients, a Mobile Meals volunteer may be the only person they see that day and sometimes volunteers discover bad
health or even death. “If they don’t answer the door, that’s not a good sign,” Buzzard said. Ninety percent of drivers are couples. Mark and Karen Springer pick up Mobile Meals at KCH in Warsaw. Karen has been delivering meals for almost 50 years. They both served on the first board of directors for Mobile Meals, and she was instrumental in getting the nonprofit agency started in Kosciusko County. The couple were board members at one time. “We enjoy doing it,” she said. The couple deliver once a week, or about three to four times monthly. Eldon Martin has been delivering “for a couple of years.” He delivers to Etna Green and Warsaw. “I see about eight people,” he said. “I like that I might be able to help somebody.” Cindy Hunter has been a volunteer driver for almost 20 years. Prior to delivering in Kosciusko County, she delivered meals in Wabash. She started when her sons were young as a community service lesson for the boys, she said. “We home-schooled so that’s how I started,” she
said. “I’ve met so many older people, and they are such a delight. I love taking care of older people.” Hunter, who lives in Warsaw, delivers two days a week, doing two different routes. She delivers about 12 meals, which takes her about an hour or so. Her routes include Atwood on Thursdays and North Webster on Fridays. She “hands off” meals to volunteer drivers in North Webster before delivering meals on the way back home. “I feel I can be an important part of doing daily assessments of people,” Hunter explained. Some people get meals delivered five days a week, while some get them only on certain days. Clients pay $25 a month or $5 per meal on private pay. “It depends on their income and what they have left after they pay their bills,” said Buzzard.
To become a volunteer driver or to receive meals, call (574) 267-2012.