It can be tough for homebound seniors to get nutritious meals. Meals on Wheels of Northwest Michigandistributes meals in the region to help those seniors remain in their homes. The service is operated by Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency.
A fleet of about a dozen drivers collects the meals at Goodwill Inn in Traverse City and delivers them to people’s homes. Goodwill distributes about 300 meals each day. Jack Alexander became one of those volunteer drivers at a low point in his life two years ago. His wife, Sandy, had just died of colon cancer.
“We were married 61 years,” Jack says. “We went to college together, went to high school together, went to junior high together. All my life I’ve been living with Sandy, my wife. When I lost her I ended up on the couch like I suppose a lot of people do.”
It was his volunteer driver shift that helped Jack get off the couch.
Janine Weisman is a journalist in Newport, Rhode Island. She came to Interlochen in June for the Transom Traveling Workshop taught by Rob Rosenthal.