Photo by Emilie BoenigMeals on Wheels client Katherine Wilm (left) receives a freshly made lunch from volunteer Diane Dement, a driver for the Leander Fire Department. Several members of the LFD volunteer to deliver meals.
Area seniors in need receive homestyle meals
On nearly any weekday, the Bagdad Activity Center in Leander is filled with the smell of lunch cooking and the sound of dominoes clicking and cards shuffling. The building is home to the regional Meals on Wheels program that delivers food to about 75 senior citizens in the Cedar Park, Leander and Liberty Hill area, as well as several dozen more seniors served on-site.
Meals on Wheels in Leander is one of six programs of its kind operating under Williamson-Burnet County Opportunities, a nonprofit organization that provides food, preschool education, emergency assistance and affordable housing to low-income members of the community. In 2012, Meals on Wheels served nearly 160,000 meals to seniors, many of whom are unable to provide themselves proper nutrition because of illness, age or disability.
"A lot of times our volunteers are the only people the client sees all week, so that's important to get them connected with the outside," Meals on Wheels Director Paula Goodson said. "It gets people less depressed, and it helps people stay at home—as opposed to a nursing home or assisted living—because they have good meals, somebody watching over them and somebody to talk to."
