Meals on Wheels Volunteers At Heart of Mission to Provide Meals to Senior Clients

CONROE, TX -- As our area continues to grow, so does our aged population, and Meals on Wheels Montgomery County, with its mission, grows even more vital every year. MOWMC’s mission is simple, to give the county’s senior citizens dignity in their lives by allowing them to remain on their own for as long as possible, by providing nutritious meals, ADA compliant transportation, and being that friendly face that drops by weekly to say ‘Hi,’ while providing a meal, or picking up seniors for rides to vital locations. MOWMC is its own little corporation, not tasked in making profits, but with each division providing a sense of independence amongst county seniors, even providing meals for pets, who provide a real comfort to their owners fending off total loneliness in households of one.

Meals on Wheels serves clients with an average age of nearly 80 years, with approximately six centenarians in the membership. They serve about 250 Veterans, and most of their clientele live on their own.

“We typically have around 1000 clients on our home-delivered meal service,” said MOWMC’s President & CEO Carrie Watkins. “We also provide meals for senior centers around our county, which amounts to around 5000-5200 meals per month.”

MOWMC has a central hub in Conroe, but services a number of community centers around the county, and serves on average 55,000 meals per year to clients, who visit with fellow seniors for activities and a meal. That’s on top of the average 200,000 meals delivered to the residences of their route clients every year. Other services include giving rides, not only to medical appointments, but to pharmacies to retrieve medications, and also to get groceries. There are approximately 1500 rides given per month to clients that are requested by their clients on their home-delivery list.

The volunteers with MOWMC total nearly 600, and average as a team work nearly 30,000 hours annually, which saves the charity a million dollars per year. The funds the MOWNC rely on are raised from a different number of sources, with government grants accounting for over half, plus 25% from local fundraising efforts, then area foundations, and individual donations. But it is the dedicated volunteers who donate their time to MOW that keep the organization busy, without them the organization really couldn’t operate. Cooking is the heart of the operation, and the kitchen staff are always on the ball to ensure the food containers that go out are filled with nutritious items that keeps their clients viable. In addition, items other than human food are delivered, such as birthday bags for clients, incontinence supplies, and box fans for the warmer months; but the aniMeals, foods provided for clients, cats and dogs, are also a necessary item to keep on hand.

Volunteers are a part of all aspects of MOWMC, including the grocery bags that are delivered, and as the waitlist grows their mission becomes ever so important. Local businesses are also vital to MOW’s efforts, and take company sponsored volunteer days to assist in the mission to serve the needs of the county’s most vulnerable citizens.

One MOWMC volunteer, Robin Bartholet, after a career of selling furniture in Conroe with her husband Ed, plus raising a family, now volunteers a few hours a week. Ed passed away in 2022, and with her dog, and nearby family support with her sons, Robin still looked for another outlet in addition to her church activities. It was early last year when Bartholet started with MOWMC. She and her husband had a volunteer spirit, most notably delivering Ginger Snaps each holiday season to the kids in Tamina. Robin began a route that she was comfortable with, and in the time since, has gotten to know her clients with reverence, and is welcomed each week when delivering meals. Bartholet really gets to know her clients with updates on their lives each week. Robin serves several she has known personally for over fifty years, including one lady, Jamie, who worked for her neighbors in early 1970’s Conroe.

“Miss Jamie is such a lovely lady,” said Bartholet. “She babysitted my next door neighbors children, when Ed and I were bringing up our boys in Sunset Ridge.”

Robin is humbled by her volunteerism, being able to give back to the community, just as so many other MOW volunteers do. For them it’s a labor of love, being fortunate to take time out of their day to support seniors in need, and continue the mission to assist the county’s homebound elderly with the necessities to continue living a fruitful life.

To learn about, volunteer, or donate, please visit Meals on Wheels Montgomery County: mowmc.org