By Rose Jones

Meals on Wheels

Downtown Salisbury Inc. enlisted the help of volunteer Weston Ewart to solicit merchants and nonprofit agencies to create window displays for some of the vacant buildings in the 200 block of South Main Street.

Ewart is also a Meals on Wheels volunteer, and when picking up his delivery totes one day, he asked Meals on Wheels Executive Director Cindy Fink if she thought that Meals on Wheels could create a window display.

Fink immediately said yes, but asked for a couple days to consult Carol McNeely, “our most creative volunteer.”

Fink and McNeely met at an empty storefront on South Main Street. Remembering the recent photographs she had taken of participants and volunteers for another project, Carol had an idea.

“Why don’t we use some of the photos of our volunteers in action and our grateful participants and then add examples of our meal trays and other services?” she said.

As the project progressed, Meals on Wheels staff members Suzanne Weber, meals coordinator, and Sandy Combs, program director, contributed ideas.

“How about highlighting our annual barbecue sale supported by College Barbeque and Cheerwine and our new lobster sale, supported by the Shucking Shack and Rick Anderson McCombs at Sidewalk Deli?” Weber said.

“Don’t forget to showcase our birthday bags and volunteer tote bags,” Combs said.

Ewart stopped by Meals on Wheels to comment on the window. He said he rode by to check on the progress and that Caitlin Rice of Downtown Salisbury had called to say how impressed she was with all the windows.

“We are almost finished,” Fink told Ewart. “We want to add our monthly menu so that folks can see our varied menu. Sandy Combs, program director, works hard to see that we meet the nutrition guidelines and that each meal is tasty as well as colorful and appetizing.”

McNeely will put on the finishing touches later.

“She will add samples of water bottles from Food Lion and Blue Mist Water from Cheerwine that we send to Meals on Wheels participants. We label each bottle reminding our folks to drink lots of water during the summer,” Fink said.

Fink said homebound seniors are at high risk for dehydration and complications such as confusion or urinary tract infections. This is a fragile population, and many of them live without air conditioning. The agency works with Rufty-Holmes Senior Center by referring some participants for free fans.

“We try to help our seniors stay safely in their homes,” Fink said.

One large framed poster continues the “Did You Know?” theme that Meals on Wheels features each week in its social media posts. The featured “Did You Know?” poster includes information about the cost of meals for two days, a week, a month or a year.

To the right of the front door, another poster shows what it takes to volunteer for Meals on Wheels.

The window displays along the 200 block of South Main Street will remain in place for a year. Meals on Wheels will update its menu each month and the window displays seasonally.

For more information, go to www.mowrowan.org or contact Rose Jones at 704-633-0352 or info@mowrowan.org.