August 22, 2019
Every weekday, our dedicated volunteers deliver more than 2,500 nutritious meals – and just as importantly, friendly visits and safety checks - to homebound older Central Texans.
It’s amazing to think about considering MOWCTX’s humble beginnings: eight volunteers, a group which included parishioners from East Austin’s Holy Cross Catholic Church, who, three times per week, cooked 30 meals themselves and then delivered them to older neighbors in need.
So much has changed since 1972. These days, for instance, all of our meals are prepared by our professional kitchen staff. What hasn’t changed is the dedicated support of our mission provided by the Holy Cross congregation.
A great example are the local members of the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary (KPCLA), a national Catholic fraternal and charitable organization. The group at Holy Cross has a Meals on Wheels volunteer team that’s been delivering hot meals and warm smiles to our clients since 2004. That’s when a couple named Johnnie and Dean Dorsey who, at the time, led the local men’s and women’s division of KPCLA, decided to enlist others to join them in volunteering for Meals on Wheels.
Every Friday, two members of the KPCLA team pick up nutritious lunches at our Central Kitchen in East Austin and then embark on their labor of love. “Each trip offers new gifts,” is the way KPCLA volunteer Ira Sims describes her experience visiting with the homebound folks we are honored to serve. “It shows [the clients] we care,” adds team member Carolyn Collins.
“We see the need and we try to act on that need,” Dean Dorsey says. She and the rest of the team are definitely in it for the long haul. “We plan to continue this until the Good Lord says ‘you’re no longer walking this earth’,” says Johnnie Dorsey.