Calypso homebound served meals
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on July 4, 2004 7:09 AM
CALYPSO -- A Volunteer delivered the first homebound meals to Calypso's elderly on Thursday.
The first one to deliver, the Rev. Bruce Powers, is co-pastor of Calypso Baptist Church with his wife, Traci.
He loaded the five meals into his car Thursday morning at the Faison Community Building.
Kate Cameron received the first meal. The third stop, Nellie Waters, is one of the Powers' church members and an old friend. Powers said he preached his first sermon at Calypso Baptist Church on an Easter Sunday, and Ms. Kate invited them to her home for Easter dinner. Esther Fernanders, the last stop, is 91 years old.
"Half of the people on my route are friends," said Powers.
For information about volunteering for the Calypso route, or if you are over age 60 and home bound, call Volunteer Coordinator Claire Lettley at 910-296-2140. She interviews people who want to be added to the routes.
The Calypso food route is Duplin County's 10th, said Ms. Lettley.
"I think it went really good," she said about the first Calypso circuit, which moved quickly. Ms. Lettley plans to add two more people to the route.
Walter Brown, the county's director of Services for the Aged, says he's trying to build two more routes. One will be in Magnolia, and the other will be in the Cedar Fork community of Duplin County.
"Duplin County's goal is to add homebound meals to serve all the elderly in the county," he said. The county could have as many routes as the department can find volunteers to deliver the meals. The venture requires 22 volunteers. The Calypso route has 24.
Quite a few elderly people are still not being reached with homebound meals, Brown said. He said he has been working on getting a route established in Magnolia for three years.
Duplin County is unique in that the Services for the Aged cooks its own meals. Most county agencies of its kind have their food catered.
More than 70 meals are going out now, and Brown says that many more could be going to the homebound elderly in the county. "We just have to keep trying," he said.
The county budget for next year includes a new van and driver to keep up with the demand. The Calypso route adds about a half-dozen meals until the new van and driver come on board.
Several senior citizens from Calypso usually go to the Faison Nutrition Site at the Community Building for a 50-cent meal. More would go if they could get around more easily and if the Faison building were larger, officials say.
Most of the volunteers are senior citizens, but the Services for the Aged has no age limit for its volunteers. If you have a driver's license, you can volunteer.