Calls Are Flooding In From Seniors Requesting Meals On Wheels Oklahoma City Services

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church said they prepare up to 500 meals a day to keep up with the demand of seniors in need of food here in Oklahoma County.

Meals on Wheels Oklahoma City said since the start of the pandemic, they have served thousands of meals and the requests aren't slowing down. 

Every Friday, Wade Gray and his wife pick up meals to be delivered to seniors. The Grays are volunteers with St. Luke United Methodist Church, which is one of over 40 churches that delivers meals to seniors in Oklahoma County.

“You may be the only face they see that day. Sometimes we don't know if it's the meal they want or if it's the conversation they want more. They probably want both, but sometimes it's hard to tell which one means more to them,” Gray said. 

Chris Lambert with St. Luke's said for many of them this is the only meal they're guaranteed to get that day.

“A lot of seniors don't have ready access to food. Senior food insecurity in Oklahoma county is a major issue,” Lambert said. 

This is an issue he said has been around way before the pandemic, COVID-19 is just exposing the problem even more. Lambert said many of the seniors using their services are homebound. He believes the pandemic is encouraging more people to look into what resources are available and ask for help. 

“Prior to the pandemic, our churches all together were delivering between 8500 and 9000 meals a month now we're delivering over 19,000 meals a month,” Lambert said. 

Lambert said keeping up with the demand is not a problem. Several volunteers have jumped on board, and they've even remodeled their kitchen, but they are calling on other groups to sign up. 

“We need additional churches and organizations to join with us so that we can do more. If a church is only able to deliver 30 meals one day a week that just gives us the capacity to serve 30 more individuals in another place,” Lambert said. 

Meals on Wheels is also launching a program to help brighten a senior’s day and give them something to look forward to. It’s called the Friendly Visitors program. 

For more information about the program, you can call Candice Hillenbrand at (405)609-1016 or chillenbrand@stlukesokc.org. 

To become a Meals on Wheels partner, please contact Chris Lambert at (405) 609-1012 or by email at clambert@stlukesokc.org.