In the months since Pam Edwards started volunteering at Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, she grew fond of John Ruiz, 85, a “chatty” client on her Friday Merrillville route.
After the Aug. 11 storms, luckily, she was told he was ok.
When they briefly caught up outside his door on Aug. 21, he told her he just got power back the day before. His brother-in-law was checking on him and he ate McDonald’s for the few days the nonprofit couldn’t deliver meals.
“Now I know he has someone who checks,“ Edwards, 69, of Munster, said afterwards.
Another volunteer driver, Vega Blossom, 27, of Portage said she was left with nine extra meals on Aug. 18 on her usual route of 27 people in Gary.
She spotted a tired-looking mom outside with kids, including a newborn baby and offered some of the meals to her. The woman said she was still without power, Blossom said.
“I mean it’s obviously awful to see someone in that situation,” Blossom said. “It’s good to know we can do something to actually help people.”
NIPSCO’s power outage map showed more than 33,000 people were still without power Saturday morning, with just more than half – or about 17,000 in Gary.
Meals on Wheels continues to provide a lifeline after Gary and Northwest Indiana experienced historic power outages. Currently, it has more than 500 volunteers on more than 50 routes, serving around 2,200 meals daily, said Volunteer Manager Faith Evers.
There is a protocol, if a volunteer is concerned about a client’s well-being, she said. They can mark “change” in condition in the delivery app. Then, their client services team will call the person or their emergency contact, and do a wellness check, if necessary.
The nonprofit has made adjustments recently — for example delivering hot meals on the weekend, instead of frozen ones for folks without power. They have been getting names of some folks in need from Gary’s city government and have been able to speed up how quickly they can initially deliver meals, Evers said.
“Normally, it’s a two day process,” she said. “We’re doing it that day of, just because of the need that’s going on.”
Since the storms, they’ve added about 21 new clients, Director of Community Engagement and Marketing Melissa Huffman said in an email. They serve about 108,000 meals in Gary per year.
Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana is hoping to raise $50,000 through their latest fundraising campaign, Neighbors in Need: Start Your Engines NWI, which would provide 8,000 meals, she said.
Anyone seeking services can call 219-756-3663, ext. 1, or go to https://mownwi.org/registration. Donations can be made by calling 219-756-3663, or at mownwi.org or https://donorbox.org/neighbors-in-need.