Each weekday at 10:30 a.m., volunteers for the Friendship Center of Montgomery County's Meals on Wheels program begin arriving en masse at the nonprofit's kitchen at the South County Community Center on Lake Robbins Drive.

Watching the volunteers load their cars with meals for delivery is always an emotional moment for Friendship Center Director Allison Hulett.

"I think the volunteers do it for a variety of reasons," Hulett said. "But mostly, in this fast-paced world that often feels very disconnected and self-serving, Meals on Wheels provides an opportunity for face-to-face human connection and giving to those in need."

About 500 meals are prepared and delivered each weekday by 180 volunteers at Meals on Wheels, which was established in Montgomery County in 1973. The meals are planned by nutritionists, prepared in the kitchen beginning at 6 a.m. and delivered throughout Montgomery County to seniors over 60 who qualify. For qualifying elderly clients living alone, the meals are the reason for the visit, but the program is about much more than food, Hulett said.

"The exchange of the meal is a beautiful moment of service done in a routine way," she said. "We all know that vulnerable feeling of being in need, and so giving feels very good. In a lot of ways, Meals on Wheels is as much for the volunteers as it is for the clients."

Through the program, a volunteer is assigned a route with about six to 10 clients, repeating the route every weekday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

"This way, they get to know the seniors on their route very well," Hulett said. "The route just becomes a part of their weekly routine, and so there becomes space for them to really enjoy it."

When retired Shell Oil executive Bill Smith made one of his first volunteer deliveries in 1998, he was greeted by an elderly lady who asked if there was pie with the meal.

"Next time I delivered, I went to this place in Montgomery that made wonderful pie," Smith said. "I had them slice it into eight pieces, and it just so happened I had eight clients on the route."

Sixteen years later, Smith is still delivering meals. He shares his route with another volunteer who dutifully stops to add pie for clients.

"They look forward to seeing you, and for some of them, you're the only person they see all week," he said. "The city routes get daily meals delivered, which is why we need more volunteers on the rural routes."

Also, the more volunteers the program has, the more clients can be served—and there is now a waiting list. For volunteers, Smith said, the rewards are many.

"In this program, you have direct interface with the people you are helping," he said. "You're not just donating money to an organization. You see them and understand their situation, and that is a big difference."

Meals on Wheels, Friendship Center of Montgomery County, 281-292-6353, www.thefriendshipcenter.com