written & photographed by Cesca Janece Waterfield

When 95 year old Richmond resident Mrs. Burke sees the Meals on Wheels vehicle pull up, it’s the highlight of her day. “When she starts talking to you,” volunteer Debbie Clarke says, “she kind of does a little dance with her walker.” On the same route are two sisters who greet Debbie each time with a familiar joke: “They say, ‘We’re just two old hungry women waiting for you.’”

Debbie is in her sixth year of volunteering with Meals on Wheels, a charitable home-delivery meal service that serves more than 1,500 homebound and elderly residents throughout Central Virginia. Most clients live alone, and human contact with volunteers who care nourishes them as much as the meal. “They’re all lonesome,” Debbie says. “They do look forward to it.”

Debbie works at McKesson Medical-Surgical, a Richmond-based distributor of medical supplies who encourages and aids its employees to volunteer with Meals on Wheels. With 175 years of continuous operation, McKesson is the longest-running company in the industry and is currently ranked 15 on the Fortune 500. “It’s a way that we can give back to our customers and make an impact,” says McKesson representative Jenny Graves. “It really puts the holidays for me into perspective.”

[To read this full article, go to our free electronic edition, UVW Digital]

Date of publication: November 25, 2009
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