Lamoni Meal Site Volunteers, 1976

HALL, HUTCHCROFT, TRAMMELL, LINDERMAN, WILSON

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 8/21/2015 at 11:47:00

The Lamoni Chronicle
Lamoni, Decatur County, Iowa
Thursday, May 13, 1976

Congregate Meal Site Volunteers

Two local senior citizens have given many hours of volunteer time to help at the congregate meal site located at the Lamoni United Methodist Church.

Esther Hall, 89 ½ years young, has give four hours a day, three days a week, since the beginning of the meals program, Jan., 1973. Mrs. Hall comes at 10 o’clock and helps wherever she is needed. She may get the tables ready, prepare the beverages, clean vegetables and when the meal is ready, serves the beverages and alter assists with the dishwashing. She as donated over 2,200 volunteer hours. Her philosophy is that “We are here on earth to help others and that we owe the world our services for the privilege of being here.”

Mike Hutchcroft, 64, was forced for health reasons, to take an early retirement, but he has not spent time in a rocking chair. Mike has volunteered at the meal site three hours a day, three days a week for the past 2 ½ years. He acts as host and registers people as they come to the meal. He also assists the site manager, Maxine Trammell, with the clerical aspects of the meals program and information and referral. Mike is chairman of the county library program for nursing homes and obtains films from the Lamoni library to be shown at the local nursing home and at the meal site.

Evelyn Hutchcroft, who is a part time employee of the meals program, has made substantial donations of time. Freda Wilson, cook since the beginning of the program, also donates volunteer hours.

In addition to these volunteers, local churches assign volunteers to help at the meal site during the time of peak work load and other persons deliver meals three times a week to elderly who cannot leave their homes. Housewives, retired persons and college students have served as volunteers and dozens of persons have helped in this way.

The congregate meals program in Decatur County was begun as a pilot project by the South Central Iowa Community Actions Agency in 1973 and in January, 1974, is operated under Title V11 of the Older American’s Act by Area XIV Agency on Aging. Mary Linderman is the project director.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2015