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Climbing cost of gasoline slows Meals on Wheels, other services
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Allison Winik, 20, makes deliveries for Meals on Wheels using her SUV, which gets about 15 miles per gallon. – Greg Whitesell/Examiner Today’s $4 gas prices are hurting people who hardly make it to the pumps, as some Meals on Wheels chapters and other services for the elderly struggle against historic fuel costs to keep food coming. More than half the Meals on Wheels organizations across the country have lost volunteers, with others cutting back on their routes or asking for fewer driving days. “The price of gas is going up and the price of food is going up, and we take a double whammy on this,” said Enid Boarden, president and chief executive of Meals on Wheels Association of America. “We have programs now throughout the U.S. that are considering closing down. That means seniors are being left to fend for themselves. We are at a crisis point right now.” The Jewish Community Services Center in Rockville was recently forced to start a waiting list and limit the distribution area for its kosher deliveries as some volunteers trimmed their availability, crushed by heavy costs, director Diane Hays-Earp said. “They’re suffering,” Hays-Earp said of the volunteers. “One of our main jobs at Jewish Services Agency is to keep people in their homes as long as possible, and the gas prices have really made it difficult.” But the Washington region has endured the gas spikes better than most, local chapter presidents say, because many routes top out at 12 miles a day. Even with routes that take a toll on the gas tank, Loudoun County’s program has survived without a hitch, said Dr. Lynn Reid, director of its agency on aging. But some point to concerns that rising prices, now at $4.08 per gallon of regular unleaded, are placing a heavier burden on volunteers that threatens to diminish the quality of the program. Slashing donation pickups of items other than furniture may be necessary to conserve high-priced diesel for the Salvation Army of Northern Virginia, Maj. Mike Vincent said. While sales are up at their thrift stores, it’s costing more to collect the items. Nonprofit organizations that depend on transportation are taking a hit, said Eduardo Romero, director of membership for the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington. “It’s affecting charities and it’s affecting people they serve,” Romero said. “It’s impacting people who depend on home services. If those people can’t receive services at home, they need to be taken to institutions, and the prices skyrocket.” dgenz@dcexaminer.com |
