SAN ANTONIO — Meals on Wheels San Antonio is actively working to recruit more delivery drivers amid a national volunteer shortage for nonprofit organizations.
“Volunteers are critical to do what we do,” said Forrest Myane, Meals on Wheels San Antonio’s strategy and development officer. “We deliver to about 4,000 households across Bexar County and some of the rural counties five days a week.”
The U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps released a report that shows the formal participation rate was 23.2% between 2019 and 2021, a seven-point drop marking the largest decline since the survey began more than 20 years ago.
“Understandably, volunteering really shifted during the pandemic and coming back out of it is a little bit slow,” Myane said.
Meals on Wheels San Antonio operates with 60 volunteers a day, but the nonprofit needs around 200 people to be most efficient in delivering free, nutritious meals to a mostly older clientele. Volunteer routes consist of 10 stops and typically take less than an hour to complete.
“We used to have over 50 corporations that supported us with volunteer teams and that number just really hasn’t come back and a lot of that’s due to remote work and the way people are working is so different now,” Myane said.
The nonprofit has taken to social media, church groups, schools and several other organizations to promote the urgent need for more volunteers. One of its goals is to regain corporate support through their teams of volunteers.
Claire Huerta enjoys connecting with the residents when making her weekly deliveries. She’s been volunteering with Meals on Wheels San Antonio every Friday for the past few months, and this week was working to deliver cheese enchiladas.
“It’s fun, it’s just very simple," she said. "But it’s just a consistent bright spot in my week and I want to be a bright spot in their week too.”
“Social interaction and food—wonderful things for our older adults in our community."
Administrative staff have stepped up in light of the decline in volunteer delivery drivers, although volunteers are able to make the biggest impact.
“I think people have really understood the way our clients live every single day, and they just really don’t see other people," Myane said. "So those volunteers are their lifeline to the outside world."
To learn more about volunteering at Meals on Wheels San Antonio, go here.
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