KINGSPORT — Meals on Wheels of °®¶¹´«Ã½ held an awards ceremony on Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church to present the annual Mary Cunningham Volunteer Awards.
The mission of Meals on Wheels of °®¶¹´«Ã½ is to provide nutritious meals to isolated, incapacitated senior citizens of other disabled persons in the greater °®¶¹´«Ã½ community. It is a United Way agency that delivers about 230 meals per day involving some 400 to 500 volunteers. The meals are cooked and delivered out of two kitchens: First Presbyterian Church and Waverly Road Presbyterian Church.
The effort to supply meals to those in need began in the 1970s by a small group of women, and some of them were recognized this week.
The awards ceremony has two purposes. The first is to remember Mary Cunningham, who for many years worked tirelessly to organize and coordinate Meals on Wheels, making it the organization it is now. She cooked, delivered, ordered food, made calls to volunteers, organized routes and did just about everything that it takes many people to do today. She even made delivery boxes for volunteers to use.
The second purpose is recognize and thank some of the volunteers who have tirelessly worked many years delivering and/or cooking for Meals On Wheels.
The volunteers this year are as follows:
Germaine Bus — Began in 1975. Cooks and delivers.
Bob Strickler — Has delivered for over 32 years.
Frontier Health — Unpack and stores groceries in the pantry faithfully each week.
Diane Doucette — Delivers four times per month on two different routes. Always willing to fill in when needed.
Ronnie Hess — Delivers two routes. Always willing to fill in when needed.
David Reames — Longtime cook and cook coordinator.
