The Ridgefield Church of the Nazarene brought back its Meals on Wheels People program on July 5 in an effort to bring food to senior citizens in need.
The program was absent for over two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now set to take place on Tuesdays.
Pastor Jason Matters said the organization strives to provide a place where senior citizens can make sure their physical needs for food are met, while also providing a socialization opportunity.
“We just really want our church to be of service to the community and for everyone in the community,” Matters said. “We’re just glad our oldest members of our community know that their needs are being taken care of and that somebody’s looking out for them.”
Matters said the church tried to host the Meals on Wheels lunches for a while, but faced some setbacks they had to overcome.
“We started talking to Meals on Wheels about serving out of the church, but then discovered that our church’s kitchen needed some upgrades to get the county license,” he said.
The church was able to raise money to upgrade its kitchen to meet the food safety requirements to bring the program back to the community.
Every Christmas season, Matters said the church holds a program called “the singing Christmas tree,” which is composed of six performances that bring in between 300 to 400 attendees. At that event, people have an opportunity to make a financial donation.
“One of the years, we asked people to give toward our kitchen remodel so that we could get it fully upgraded and get our license so that Meals on Wheels could come back to Ridgefield,” Matters said. “We did the project, got the license all ready, and then COVID shut everything down.”
Matters said the upgrades to the kitchen involved the addition of multiple sinks and washing stations, as well as a renovation to its serving counter and storage. The church also added a freezer. Matters said the process took about three months to complete.
Matters said former Ridgefield mayor Don Stose was excited to see the Meals on Wheels program return, since many senior citizens approached Stose during his term to bring back the high in-demand service. He said Stose approached the church about bringing the program back in the spring of 2020.
“I think we had the contract signed and pretty much everything was ready to go to restart, and then COVID shut it down,” Matters said.
The first Meals on Wheels lunch on July 5 didn’t feature many attendees, but Matters hopes to draw more people in by contacting current city leaders who can help spread the word about the program’s return. Matters also handed out flyers to attendees so they could let others know the service is now available.
The senior citizens who did attend the lunch were relieved to have an opportunity to ease out of some of the isolation they have experienced over the last two years.
“They talked about how they’re really looking forward to just being out and seeing their friends from town,” Matters said.
Meals on Wheels workers Meredith Kruger and Emily Lockshin dished out Italian wedding soup and Girl Scout cookies at the lunch. They were enthusiastic about the new opportunity to serve the Ridgefield community.
“It’s a very fulfilling job,” Lockshin said. “You get to interact with a lot of awesome volunteers and congregate diners. I can definitely see the impact that our organization is making.”
Lockshin said the program feeds “seniors who might not otherwise get fed for a day” and delivers meals directly to clients.
The Meals on Wheels People lunch at the church will take place on Tuesdays. It runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and lunch is served from noon to 1 p.m.
The Ridgefield Church of the Nazarene is located at 747 Pioneer St. in Ridgefield.
