Meals on Wheels continues through pandemic

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- With so many organizations and operations forced to close shop during the COVID-19 pandemic, Meals on Wheels continues to bring food directly to the front doors of those that need it most.

“If you have family that supports you, more power to that, but we will be there for you,” said Steve Nawrocki with Senior Resource Development (SRDA) in Pueblo.

For Meals on Wheels in Pueblo, the operation hasn’t faltered, it has even expanded.

According to SRDA, Meals on Wheels delivered more than 350 meals on Monday and 420 on Tuesday.

This is being accomplished without many of the usual Meals on Wheels volunteers. Many of those volunteers are elderly and highly susceptible to COVID-19.

“The volunteers bring their own cars," said Nawrocki. "So if we aren’t using volunteers the only alternative is to use paid staff and our own vans.”

SRDA vans, usually used to transport elderly to hospitals and doctor appointments, are now being used by Meals on Wheels.

Nawrocki says funding the SRDA staff to deliver meals wouldn't be possible without support from the Pueblo Agency on Aging.

The vans aren’t the only changes being made due to COVID-19. In order to mitigate the spread of the virus, staff members are wearing masks when they deliver the meals.

“Now the protocol is we knock on the door and just hand them the meal or we asked them to put a table by the door to place the meal,” said Nawrocki.

Meals on Wheels vows to continue making their deliveries to those in need five days a week throughout the pandemic.

If you’d like to sign up for the program, call your doctor to see if you qualify or call 719-545-8900 and ask for Meals on Wheels.