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DC-area Korean Meals on Wheels in need of volunteers

August 11, 2015

Volunteers of Korean Meals on Wheels

By The Korea Times Washington DC staff

Korean Meals on Wheels, a service under the Central Senior Center in Washington, D.C., that provides food to seniors, is facing a growing number of seniors who need its services but a shortage of volunteers.

Lee Hye-sung, center director, said satisfaction with the service has been 100 percent positive from seniors.

Korean Meals on Wheels was started in 1999 and is kept going by about 20 volunteers each year. Supported by Fairfax County, Korean Central Presbyterian Church and the center, it delivers nine Korean meals a week to seniors in Annandale, Fairfax, Vienna, Burke, Centreville, Tysons and Falls Church who cannot prepare food for themselves.

“Those who receive the food tell us it’s their life line and thank us, but what we’re struggling with now is the lack of volunteers to deliver this food,” Lee said.

Currently, about 40 volunteers have cleared Fairfax County’s screening process.

The program requires seven to eight volunteers to show up every morning to deliver meals.

“We’re always short one or two pairs of hands because of unexpected emergencies,” Lee said. “We’re hoping that people can think of the waiting seniors as their own parents and apply to help us deliver food once a week or once a month.”

Helpers are registered as county volunteers and are given gas money for their efforts.

For more information, call 703-303-3939.