Houston County's Meals on Wheels open at its new location

The Houston County Council on Aging's Meals on Wheels cut the ribbon on a new location last week and opened the door for a whole lot more people to be served.

Members of the Robins Regional Chamber of Commerce were on hand as well as Meals on Wheels board members and volunteers.

Started in 1977 in Warner Robins, Meals on Wheels delivers meals 52 weeks a year. Currently 168 people receive a meal; with about 70 on the waiting list. It costs about $2,000 a year to provide meals for one person. The organization has about 100 volunteers but more are always needed.

The relocation of the Meals on Wheels facility was a true group effort. It was actually started off by city of Warner Robins employee Bill Mulkey. Aware that Meals on Wheels was going to lose their building since HUD was demolishing some of their property on the north side of Warner Robins, Mulkey reached out to Southside Baptist Church. Southside was located for years on South Pleasant Hill Road and still owns the property.

After Mulkey mentioned Meals on Wheels' need to be relocated, the church responded.

"It was just a good fit for both of us," Randall Nash, of Southside Baptist Church, said.

Kenny Weaver, director of Meals on Wheels, said that the organization's goal is to provide nutritious meals so that people can maintain their independence.

"But it is so much more than a meal," Weaver said. "It is a daily dose of human contact."

Wannetta Pitts started volunteering at Meals on Wheels this spring and says that her twice-a-week commitment benefits her as much as it does the people she delivers food to.

"Some want you to stay and chat a minute, I enjoy that. I enjoy helping the elderly and there is satisfaction in knowing that you are making a difference in someone's life," Pitts said.

For more information about donating to Meals on Wheels, or becoming a volunteer, visit their website at hocomow.org. Meals on Wheels also has a GoFund Me donation page at www.gofundme.com/HCCOAMOW-s.

Meals on Wheels is also participating in Georgia Gives Day on Nov. 12. To donate go to www.gagivesday.org/c/GGD/a/hocomow.

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Houston County's Meals on Wheels open at its new location ."