By Alberto Gilman
Meals on Wheels of Greater Newburgh welcomed jolly old Santa and Mrs. Claus for an afternoon of food deliveries to clients on Monday, December 23. Several clients who received a meal from Santa and Mrs. Claus beamed with joy and thanked them for coming by on that day and spending time with them.
Before meals made their way to homes in the local area, Meals on Wheels staff, kitchen volunteers and volunteer drivers gathered at the Meals on Wheels headquarters at 35 Cerone Place in the City of Newburgh. Meals were prepared, packaged and given to drivers with their routes for that delivery day.
Meals on Wheels Executive Director Jennifer Verdin said a total of 65 hot meals were delivered on that Monday afternoon with the help of 14 volunteers, two from the kitchen and 12 drivers and helpers. From Monday to Friday, Meals on Wheels has a total of 70 meal clients and has 103 volunteers helping in their kitchen facilities and delivering meals. Routes of delivery include stops in the Town of Newburgh, the City of Newburgh and Town of New Windsor.
The deliveries with Santa and Mrs. Claus was, to Verdin, a great way to celebrate the holidays and go all out for the season. “It is a great day. The energy is just super excited right now, even the adults are loving it. It’s also very exciting to have people see what it is that we do on a daily basis,” said Verdin.
With this particular event, Verdin shared that the goal was for those who would be receiving meals would be brightened up seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus to add some cheer to their holiday season. Clients may sometimes not have anyone around for the holidays and so adding some cheer would be good for them.
“Giving back to somebody else that doesn’t have or is suffering, that to me is an all year round thing. I wanna think of those who have nothing, and how can I help a little bit and putting a smile on somebody’s face is just priceless. There’s nothing greater than that to me,” said Verdin.
As final preparations were made, former Executive Director Robin Bello served as the honorary driver for both Santa and Mrs. Claus. The first stop on the delivery route with Santa and Mrs. Claus was to Meals on Wheels Board President Carole McDermott. Upon arriving at her door, she was very surprised and beamed with joy, thanking all who made this delivery a special one for her.
As Santa and Mrs. Claus made their way to the clients traveling along Route 300 and on other town roads, families and people could be seen directing their children to Santa or waving as he went by. At each of the stops on the delivery route, Santa and Mrs. Claus were met with happy clients and cheers all around. “We picked specific people that would really appreciate it. They really had no idea that we were coming, so it was a great surprise and it was a wonderful idea. It just brought a lot of happiness to them during this holiday season,” said Bello after the deliveries.
The organization is located at 35 Cerone Place in Newburgh and can be reached also at 845-562-3490.