VOLUNTEER | Handbook

Welcome to the Meals on Wheels West program. Meals On Wheels is a program to assist individuals who are homebound and unable to care for themselves. Your primary function is to deliver a hot meal for lunch and a cold meal for the evening. Other functions include being a greeter, observer, liaison and sometimes a lifesaver.

We service the Santa Monica, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Topanga Canyon areas.
A participant can be anyone who is physically unable to cook or shop for themselves. Various diets are offered to these homebound individuals. The meals are balanced and provide 2/3 of the one's minimum daily recommended requirement.

The meals cost $6.00 per day for both meals. Financial assistance is available for those who qualify.

As mentioned previously, there are many roles the Meals On Wheels volunteer plays, which are important to the well being of the homebound participant. In most cases, the Meals On Wheels recipient lives alone and is lonely, frail and lacks companionship.
Thank you for joining us and we hope that our relationship will be a long and rewarding one.

A Meals On Wheels volunteer is you and me acting as a very special person providing a unique service to the homebound in our community. We have committed our time to serve those who are unable to buy or prepare their own food.

As volunteers we will have varied responsibilities. Our primary function is to deliver the meals, but we will also be a greeter, observer, liaison, and sometimes a lifesaver. Since we are the ones who have daily contact with the clients, our job is an important one in helping to provide the best possible service and aid the staff in achieving their main concern which is the client's total care.

All of our clients become so only through circumstance. They deserve our respect and consideration. There may be times when they find it difficult to be pleasant. During these times it is important for the volunteers to have an extra-wide smile.

For a volunteer, common sense and a clear head are the most important things to have. In an Emergency find the nearest phone and call 911, then call Meals On Wheels Director for instructions. Always keep in mind these five essential rules:

•          1. Do Not Touch a Fallen Individual.
•          2. Do Not Pick Up Someone Who Has Fallen.
•          3. Do Not Touch Someone Who Is On The Floor.
•          4. Do Not Administer Any Medication.
•          5. Call 911.

The City of Santa Monica has given our volunteers a little leeway: you can park at meters without "feeding" them, it is all right to park in a preferential parking area or in an alley while delivering the meals. They do not allow parking in a red zone, a handicapped spot or on the side of the street affected by street cleaning. There are no exceptions to this. If you are given a ticket, however, for having an expired meter, or parking in an alley, give the ticket to the office and we will send a letter to parking enforcement and have the ticket removed.

We like to schedule the volunteers to work the same day and route each week. That way you get to know "your" clients and vice versa. The time commitment is a maximum of two hours once a week.

Thank you!

Rosemary, Joanna, Yuliya, Kevin and Mona