DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Meals on Wheels volunteers are being affected by high gas prices. Here, Kelly Villaverde got set Wednesday to deliver meals via mo-ped, watched by Executive Director Claire Shimabukuro.
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Fuel price can’t stop Meals on Wheels
Volunteers skip latte or switch to a mo-ped to keep delivering food
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Rising gas prices are putting a pinch on volunteers who deliver meals to homebound seniors.
"I cut back on my latte intake," said Tami Hess, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. "I would give up a lot of other things before I would give up my volunteering."
Kelly Villaverde left his Toyota Tacoma at home and started delivering meals in Enchanted Lake on a Yamaha mo-ped. He now gets about 70 miles to a gallon.
Without volunteers, about 400 homebound clients would go hungry, according to Claire Shimabukuro, Hawaii Meals on Wheels executive director.
NALEA J. KO
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As gas prices rise, volunteers are finding creative ways to keep Hawaii Meals on Wheels rolling.
Feed our elders
For more information about Meals on Wheels, contact 988-6747 or visit www.hmow.org.
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Three volunteers have left in the past two months due to high gas prices, said Claire Shimabukuro, Hawaii Meals on Wheels executive director. They have to pay for their own gas.
With 130 people on the waiting list to receive meals, more volunteers are needed.
"If not for the volunteers that come and give their time, we would not be able to exist," said Shimabukuro.
Meals on Wheels operates on an annual budget of about $600,000, and Shimabukuro said it is not feasible to hire employees to deliver dinner and lunch meals across Oahu for a couple of hours a day. A partnership with Tesoro Hawaii provides occasional gas gift cards, but the rest of the time, volunteers pay for their gas.
Without volunteers about 400 homebound clients would go hungry.
Leaving Meals on Wheels as a result of rising gas costs is unthinkable to some volunteers. Instead they have given up small luxuries to defray the expense of gas.
"I cut back on my latte intake," said Tami Hess, a volunteer. "I would give up a lot of other things before I would give up my volunteering."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Despite rising gas prices, Meals on Wheels volunteers Tami Hess, left, and Gail Yuen prepared to deliver meals Wednesday to Aloha Nursing Home clients in Kaneohe using their Chevy Blazer, which gets just 13 miles per gallon.
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Hess has been volunteering for more than a year, driving her Chevy Blazer from Aiea to Kalihi despite getting 13 miles to a gallon. The 47-year-old was hired July 2 as one of the two part-time employees at Hawaii Meals on Wheels and now delivers food on three additional days.
"They are like my fountain of youth," Hess said of her clients. "They make me feel young and important."
Hess is not the only volunteer to make lifestyle changes for Meals on Wheels.
Kelly Villaverde left his Toyota Tacoma at home and started delivering meals in Enchanted Lake on a Yamaha mo-ped. He now gets about 70 miles to a gallon.
Villaverde stores meals in a customized insulated 5-gallon bucket that he keeps at his feet while on delivery. Volunteering for about seven years, Villaverde said finding time to help others is fairly easy.
"Giving blood takes an hour and a half, and so does this," he said.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Volunteer Kelly Villaverde, in bike helmet, showed the cooler strapped to the back of his mo-ped, which he now uses to deliver meals. Claire Shimabukuro, Hawaii Meals on Wheels executive director, was with him.
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Piilani Kaopuiki, 63, also started about seven years ago and would volunteer even if she did not own a hybrid Toyota Highlander.
"The need is too great," said Kaopuiki.
Shimabukuro fears the high fuel prices will do more than discourage the 320 current volunteers.
"If gas prices continue to rise, it will be very difficult to recruit volunteers," said Shimabukuro.
Retaining volunteers is not Shimabukuro's only concern. All nine of Hawaii Meals on Wheels' food vendors have raised costs by 30 percent in the last two months. Each meal is about $7, and clients are not obligated to pay for the meals but contributions are requested.
Federally funded, Hawaii Meals on Wheels is the only service in Hawaii that delivers hot meals to homebound clients, said Shimabukuro.
She said keeping Hawaii Meals on Wheels operating despite the rising cost of living in Hawaii means more than feeding homebound clients.
"What's often overlooked is the fact that the personal interaction that people receive is as important as the meal itself," said Shimabukuro.