By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Meals on Wheels hopes to improve its delivery to shut-ins across Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties with a new truck outfitted to keep the hot stuff hot and the cold stuff cool.

All they need is $40,000.

The truck, a specially designed Chevrolet Silverado, is meant to replace an old van that was demolished last fall in a Farmington-area car crash.

“It was already pretty tired,” said Vivian Howe, a community service worker for SeniorsPlus, which runs the Meals on Wheels program. “That accident just finished it off.”

Since then, the program has been renting a van and raising money. It’s nearly halfway there.

Insurance brought in about $9,000. Donors have given $8,000.

“We’ve had some very generous people step forward: banks, credit unions and individuals,” Howe said.

The Bedard Health Care Group in Lewiston is running a donation drive with local doctors and customers. Each time a customer brings in a voucher from a doctor, Bedard donates $1 to the new truck. The fund-raiser is scheduled to continue until the end of June.

“But we need more,” Howe said.

The wheels are key to the operation.

SeniorsPlus serves about 120,000 meals each year within its three-county area, all cooked at its central kitchen in Wilton.

On a daily basis, Meals on Wheels delivers an estimated 342 meals to homes across the region. Meanwhile, places such as the Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center and community centers in Rumford and Lisbon serve another 264 Wilton-made meals each day.

It’s all accomplished with a web of deliveries, including the rented van, two vans owned by SeniorsPlus and dozens of volunteers.

“We have managed to keep our service up,” Howe said.

The new truck, which they hope to order from General Motors early this summer, will be able to carry up to 800 meals.

Copy the Story Link