Volunteers Welcome
Organizations like Meals on Wheels of Mercer County (MOWMC) run on volunteers — especially now, during the busiest time of year. This important community organization has experienced exponential growth these past few months with 103 new participants since September. In the past 12 months, MOWMC served over 117,000 meals — all delivered by dedicated volunteers.
Charlie Maack, a Ewing resident and a retiree, has filled his time by volunteering for the past seven years. For him, it’s important to build relationships with the participants he sees on his route each day. “When you know that you’re doing something for somebody that needs the help, it’s rewarding that way,” Charlie explains. “It’s nice to help out other people who can’t get around. If you do the same route week after week, then you start to get to know these people and start to see their needs.”
MOWMC also partners with TCNJ’s Bonner Institute to enlist the help of its students as volunteers. Kennedy Pettiford, a junior psychology major from Delran, has been involved since her freshman year. For Pettiford, conversations around nutrition and food security are important to her, and since she grew up around a lot of elders in her family, she connects with the participants within our program.
“I love all the participants. I really adore and cherish them,” she said. “I really pay attention to their birthdays and things to remember in conversations. Not a lot of people might do that but I take it to heart,” says Pettiford.
One participant in particular, Margaret “Peggy” Nicol, a Hamilton resident, appreciates the TCNJ student volunteers who deliver to her door. Peggy has been a volunteer her whole life and still does what she can for her community from the comfort of her own home. It was important to Peggy that she share all of her volunteer experiences ranging from girl scouts to her work with the American Cancer Society — recording it all for the TCNJ students. “I thought it was so important for them to know my history and I thought why not give them a little bit of something to read, or to learn about who they’re meeting,” Nicol said. “Everybody has a different story, everybody’s different and I was so impressed with them!”
Kennedy Pettiford said, “That really meant a lot to me because I wanted to make sure that she was seen and that she could pass her history onto us. I relate a lot to Peggy because volunteer services have always been something important to me. For a woman who has been so lucky to have lived so long and then for her to share that impact with me — I take a lot of inspiration from her.”
According to Peggy, “Volunteering is the most important thing one can do. This is what it’s all about, helping each other out and being there.”
If you are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities at MOWMC, visit our website at www.measlonwheelsmercer.org or call 609-695-3483.
