FARMINGTON — Don Davis has a new old lady.

Amy Arnold, an 86-year-old homebound senior citizen who moves around her house with the aid of a walker, recently was added to his delivery route.

Davis, who is himself a senior citizen at age 67, is a volunteer driver for Bonnie Dallas Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program.

“I only deliver one day, but I let them know that if they need me I can help, too. I’m usually around the senior center playing pool anyway,” he said. “When I first started they gave me a map, but I’ve been doing this long enough I got it down pat.”

It takes him about 35 minutes to deliver food to 10 homebound seniors, he said, and one of his last stops Wednesday was at Arnold’s home.

“It isn’t the easiest way in the world to get around, I’ll tell you that for sure,” Arnold said, as she steadily scooted toward her kitchen table. Waiting for her in separate hot and cold containers was a meal of warm roast pork and scalloped potatoes and cold carrot and raisin salad, with a tapioca pudding dessert with strawberries. The food was prepared at the Bonnie Dallas Senior Center.

Arnold is one of more than 90 senior citizens who has lunch delivered by volunteer drivers from the Meals on Wheels program, according to Vernita Byrum, the driving force behind the Meals on Wheels program.

As senior center coordinator, Byrum handles new volunteers for the program and manages new requests for meal deliveries. She has worked at the senior center for more than 20 years, and during that time her enthusiasm has not faded.

“We have 10 routes. So that means I need 10 volunteer drivers per day,” Byrum said, emphasizing her need of new drivers. “They usually drive once a week. They have the same day, the same route. It’s good to have at least one person for each route.”

Byrum said it usually takes volunteers less than an hour to do the job, “but once they learn the route, it’s like — here we go,” she said, adding emphasis with the clap of her hands.

Byrum said the mission of Meals on Wheels is to feed the elderly that are homebound. She said the meal they deliver is the only prepared meal some of them have all day. Yet, there are more benefits to the service they provide.

“A lot of people that are alone, it gives them at least one person they see in the day,” Byrum said. “Hopefully we can make them feel better just by seeing another person, if not just to eat. They know somebody’s coming.”

After delivering Arnold’s meal, Davis hopped back in his pickup. He said food can factor into whether or not elderly citizens can live on their own.

“They can’t always make it for themselves so good. Lots of them have kids in the area, but there’s a bunch of them that don’t,” he said. “A bunch of the children probably just don’t pay much them attention to them either.”

Want to help?

To volunteer, call Vernita Byrum at (505) 599-1380. She is looking for people available to deliver food at 11 a.m., Monday through Friday. Drivers with vehicles are in need, but volunteers without vehicles also can be of service to help with deliveries.

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