‘We have to help’: Nearly 700 York, Chester seniors get food delivered amid coronavirus
Judy Gentry is known as “The Mayor” at Eastside Homes for senior citizens in Rock Hill. During the coronavirus pandemic, she and hundreds of other older York County residents have been advised to stay home.
“We have to stay inside to stay safe at our age,” Gentry said Thursday. “It’s dangerous for older people like us to go out. Some people just can’t get out, period.”
But she and other seniors still need to eat.
For her and hundreds more in York and Chester counties, meals are being cooked, packaged and delivered by a small army of volunteers and staff from the York County Council on Aging. Thursday, Gentry’s meals were brought by volunteer Antavis Moses, a Winthrop University junior.
“I’m happy to help,” Moses said.
There was a hot meal for lunch, and a frozen meal to be heated for dinner. There was also juice and snacks.
“These great volunteers have gone above and beyond to make sure people like us here have something to eat,” Gentry said. “They are wonderful.”
About 100 senior center staff and volunteers are providing the food to almost 700 home-bound seniors each day in York and Chester counties, said Wendy Duda, executive director of the council on aging.
The home delivered meals program has operated for decades, but the last two weeks has seen the highest demand ever, Duda said.
South Carolina is in a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.
“We don’t know how long the coronavirus problem will last, so we will do this as long as we need to do it,” Duda said. “Our clients are people who must eat. It is that simple. We have to help them.”
The Rock Hill kitchen is delivering meals to people throughout both counties because the normal senior center gathering sites for activities are closed over health concerns over coronavirus, Duda said.
“The meals program is one that we can continue to offer and will provide,” Duda said. “This is an essential service.”
Cooks and servers prepare meals, then ready them for delivery. Ed Shirley, the longtime chief cook, said some of his staff have volunteered to work extra on weekends.
“We have so many people here helping who are committed to helping others in this dire time,” Shirley said.
Volunteers range from college age students such as Moses — a U.S. Navy veteran — to retirees. Longtime volunteer Bill Nixon, 83, who has helped in the program for 25 years, said the meals are a lifeline for many who receive them.
“We are helping people who need healthy food to stay alive,” Nixon said.
Ashley Bizzell, senior services director for the council on aging, said demand has risen since seniors have been advised to stay indoors.
“I talked with a new client this week who told me all she had to eat the day before was a pickle and a piece of bread,” Bizzell said. ‘These meals are all some people have.”
Want to know more?
To seek meal help for any person age 60 or over, or to volunteer delivering meals, call the senior center at 803-328-0197, ext. 302. Bizzell interviews prospective clients, volunteers and assigns delivery routes.
The York County Council on Aging main site is at 917 Standard St. in Rock Hill. For more information, visit the council on aging website at https://www.yccoa.com.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
