Williamsburg County, for instance, provides frozen meals prepared and packaged out of state, which then are delivered once weekly. Aiken County s official waiting list of 30 is deceptive, says Beth Hollingsworth, assistant executive director of the Aiken Area Council on Aging. More rural citizens need the service but can t get it because they don t live on a meal route. Regulations govern how long food can be transported in insulated carriers, and those who live too far out can t get the service. Still, the almost 5,000 volunteers in South Carolina are devoted.
Most volunteers deliver once a week often in pairs, so one can drive and the other deliver.
Volunteers pay for their own gas. To qualify for meals, candidates must be 60 or older, live alone and need help with activities of daily living. In some counties, disabled citizens younger than 60 receive the service. It hasn t escaped Grace Hardy s attention that she s older than many of the clients she serves. Nor has the fact that one day, she may be receiving what she so joyfully gives.