Goodlatte, Bowers help deliver Meals on Wheels

By Jay Warren
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: November 27, 2008

Early Thanksgiving morning an army of volunteers unpacked coolers full of meals. Among them were a few familiar faces like Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers and Congressman Bob Goodlatte.

They were at the League of Older Americans office, here to help Meals on Wheels spread Thanksgiving cheer.

Goodlatte has been doing this every Thanksgiving for 16 years. It’s something of a holiday tradition for him.

“I can get in and check on these people, see what concerns they may have. They love having people come by and visit them because they don’t get many visitors.”

That was certainly the case at his first stop. Shirley Donald told Goodlatte that she would be alone this Thanksgiving. So for her, seeing a friendly face was a welcome site. So was a hot meal as she struggles through this tough economy.

“When I’m out of food it helps me. When I don’t have anything to eat, I’ll have that to eat,” Donald said of the help she gets from Meals on Wheels.

Goodlatte delivered meals for the better part of the morning.

One woman told him, “I never thought you’d be delivering my meal.

Janet Atkins said, “I was so taken aback. I was. He is such a nice man and he has so much to do and to come like this, it’s wonderful. It really is.”

Goodlatte is one of the helpers this day, here to pass out a hot meal, offer assistance and point out a big need: more volunteers for Meals on Wheels.

“They do it every single day. I do it on Thanksgiving Day and it’s a wonderful thing to do. They need volunteers every single day.”

If you’d like to volunteer for the program call the LOA office at 345-0451.