07/06/2008

Associated Press

High gasoline prices are cutting travel, but they're also hitting hard at those providing essential services to people in need, such as the volunteer Meals on Wheels program, which struggles to do its job when gas prices climb.

"It's happening," Diane Lopez, senior nutrition manager for the Malheur Council on Aging, which coordinates the program here.

To save money, the local Meals on Wheels program delivers one hot meal per week to clients who live out of town. The rest of the meals, up to six, are frozen.

She has extended the delivery range outside of area communities to include more people who need the service.

The drivers are people who volunteer through their churches that rotate delivering the meals.

For many the Meals on Wheels program remains a stable and soothing fixture every week that includes a social aspect, Lopez said.

For some seniors, the arrival of the meals is their cue that it is time to eat. "They forget to eat," Lopez said.

So while there is the effort to be creative and keep the service going, there is the negative side, she noted.

In Vale, the issue is not as big since there are only one or two clients, and only one driver is needed.

For the Payette and Fruitland communities and areas, about 50 people receive the meals, which are delivered by a paid driver and a volunteer, Leonard Burns, co-chairman of the board of the Payette Senior Citizens, said.

But even in good times fiscal issues play a key role for the Payette Meals on Wheels program. "We need some donations," Burns said. "It is tight."

However, Burns noted that the Payette-area community is supportive. "The community is really nice to us," he said.

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Information from: Argus Observer, http://www.argusobserver.com