The NEK Council on Aging Honors Community Meal Sites during Annual Meeting

From Robin Smith at the Caledonia Record (December 2, 2020)

Businesses shut down. Stores closed. People stayed home.

And throughout it all, Meals on Wheels across the Northeast Kingdom provided more than double the meals needed to help senior citizens survive the pandemic. And the demand continues.

The Northeast Kingdom Council On Aging recognized the meals sites and participating non-profit groups across the region with the Humanitarian Hero award for their work in 2020. Council on Aging Executive Director Meg Burmeister announced the collective award at the organization’s virtual annual meeting on Monday.

“They have provided time and talent andperseverance through the pandemic,” Burmeister said of the Meals on Wheels centers. "We honor all of our meal sites. Without them, we would not have been able to provide and take care of seniors ... in the Northeast Kingdom.” She called it “an annual meeting like no other,” much like the year has been, she said.

The organization is dedicated to helping senior citizens across the Kingdom stay healthy, stay in their homes, and receive the services and support they need. So much of the work that the council and its more than 300 volunteers do is based on face-to-face work with clients.
The organization had to figure out new ways of doing things on the fly.

Burmeister said they could not have accomplished it all without the dedication of staff and volunteers.

Megan Durocher, a leader of the care and support team based in St. Johnsbury, said they found ways to successfully — and immediately — transition from frequent in- home visits to phone calls or online contacts for much of the past year.

Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers really stepped up, aided by donations of food and services, including new commercial freezers
and fridges to handle the increased demand, they said.

The partners of the Meals on Wheels programs, ranging from state agencies and local banks to Burke Mountain Academy and Jay Peak Resort, provided resources and food when needed, as well as space and locations to handle the increased demand, they said.“I can’t begin to thank you enough for the volunteers who changed their routes to make sure all of these deliveries were made and picked up” said Laura Valcour, Director of Nutrition and Wellness.

In the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP), 260 volunteers gave 1,242 hours of their time this year. Businesses shut down. Stores closed. People stayed home.