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Meals on Wheels volunteers bring Christmas cheer to Salem seniors

Dave West receives a Christmas gift as part of his Meals on Wheels delivery. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

It was 10:30 a.m. and Salem’s Meals on Wheels dining room was bustling.

Dozens of volunteers filled insulated bags with plastic trays holding chicken enchiladas, salad, chips and salsa – the Wednesday meal going out to hundreds of seniors around Salem and Keizer.

The week before Christmas, the volunteers got a chance to give something extra – holiday gifts requested by seniors along their routes.

“Nobody was asking for anything really opulent or fancy. We had a lot of requests for slippers, robes,” said Lynn Tylczak, community relations manager at Home Instead Senior Care, who coordinates the gift program with Meals on Wheels.

Matthew Morgan, who’s been a volunteer for five years, set out with two gift packages and his usual array of food.

Morgan has a developmental disability and often spends his days at Day Break, a day center for people with disabilities. He likes Meals on Wheels because it gives him a chance to get out in the community and talk to people.

Meals on Wheels volunteer Matthew Morgan inspects his meals before heading out on his route. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

Brock Roper, one of the day center’s workers, drives Morgan around and helps him deliver the food.

“He knows the route better than I do,” Roper said, pulling out of the parking lot.

The pair delivered their usual meals at three homes before pulling into Englewood West, a senior apartment building in northeast Salem. Morgan led the way to a third-floor apartment and knocked several times before Dave West came to the door.

West had asked for cologne and white t-shirts for Christmas and said he was most excited about the shirts, since some of his need replacing.

“I appreciate the meals because I barely cook any more,” he said, gesturing to the walker he uses.

He wished Morgan a Merry Christmas.

 “You guys be good! Don’t be naughty,” West said, closing his door.

Morgan laughed. “I won’t!” he said.

Home Instead had worked with Meals on Wheels for over a decade to run the Be a Santa to a Senior program.

Meals on Wheels staff collect client names and wish lists, and Home Instead puts up a tree at Shopko with gift tags. Anyone can take a tag and buy the requested items.

“The community immediately started taking names off the tree,” Tylczak said. “We’d go over there a couple times a week and just fill the van.”

Once gifts are collected, Home Instead staff wrap every present individually. This year, they wrapped about 1,500 presents for 150 seniors in two days.

Tylczak said she’s always struck by how basic many of the gift requests are. Many ask for clothes and household items, especially flashlights. Some want hobby supplies like quilting hoops or coloring books.

Many of the community members who took a tag bought everything on the senior’s list, she said.

“People just responded so generously,” Tylczak said.

Reporter Rachel Alexander: (503) 575-1241 or [email protected].

Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.

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