Getting The Meals Out

The MVES Nutrition Department

It’s a March morning in New England. Of course there’s snow on the ground, snow falling, snow everywhere. It’s bitterly cold too. While most MVES staff work indoors where it’s warm, the Nutrition Department at MVES has other plans. Actually, 1,100 plans. That’s the number of home-delivered meals that need to be delivered over the next three hours.

Shivering from the cold, the nutrition coordinator hustles into MVES at 7:30 a.m. As she stomps the ice from her boots, she hears the department’s phone ringing and ringing. She finds the voicemail overflowing with messages…22 to be exact. Seventeen clients have made late cancellations of meals. Two home-delivered meals drivers are stuck in the snow, one has a flat tire, another has a dead battery, and still another is at home with his six-year-old son who has a snow day. Still listening to the messages, the coordinator scans street maps on the wall to see what routes will need to be covered by a fill-in driver.

While the phone cacophony ensues inside, over 20 home-delivered meal drivers cautiously drive down slippery roads, heading to pick up their bundle of meals at MVES. Once there, they grab their delivery schedules, count their meals, and load up the cars. Everything and everyone—food from the caterer, drivers, office staff—has been delayed by the snow. It’s not until 10 a.m. that the drivers set out to actually deliver the meals. Each one has about 45 meals to deliver in rough weather.

Back inside, the calls are still coming at 10:30. Now they’re not cancellations but inquiries. Hungry clients accustomed to regular schedules ask, “How come my meal hasn’t arrived?”

With a car loaded with food, a driver pulls up to a home for the first delivery of the day. After a ring of the doorbell and three loud knocks, the driver is left standing at the front door. Concerned for the client’s safety, the driver uses his two-way Nextel phone to inform the office that the client isn’t answering. An office worker calls the client but there’s no answer. Again she calls. Finally the client picks up. She had fallen asleep. The office worker encourages the client to answer the door. The driver and client joke about the nap before he rushes off to the next home.

As morning quickly turns into afternoon, the drivers finish the slog through the snow, delivering all their meals. 1,100 meals successfully delivered.

1:30 p.m. brings lunch again. But, this time it’s a lunch break for the staff. The afternoon will involve planning for special nutrition events, creating new schedules for drivers, and a nutrition presentation at a local senior center. However, for 25 minutes the nutrition staff enjoys their own lunch. It’s a nice break after a hectic morning. And, talk of tomorrow’s weather forecast is forbidden.