It is difficult to get your hands around the many helpful services that the Estuary Council of Seniors provides to senior residents of its nine member towns in eastern Connecticut. These nine fortunate towns served by the Council are Lyme and Old Lyme along with Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Killingworth, Essex, Deep River, and Chester.
Chef of Estuary Council, Stuart Tedesco, cooking “Meals on Wheels”
One undertaking that is certainly in the forefront of the Estuary Council’s services to seniors is the delivery of prepared “hot” and frozen meals to those in need. These meal deliveries are made to needy seniors in the Council’s nine member towns, as well as to seniors in Madison. If you happen to live in one of these towns, the number to call to enroll in “Meals on Wheels” lunch and dinner programs is 860-388-1611.
However, meal deliveries are strictly limited to persons who are
- over 60 years of age
- no longer able to prepare a meal for themselves
- can no longer shop for food.
However, a recipient is not required to have a doctor’s prescription to establish that she or he is eligible for an at home meal delivery.
Donation Requested of $3 a Meal
A donation of $3.00 a meal, payable at the end of each month, is requested under the program. Noon meals on weekdays are delivered “hot,” and a typical “hot” lunch might consist of meat loaf, potatoes and beets, accompanied by coffee, milk and a fresh apple or pudding for desert.
Evening meals delivered for weekdays, and noon and evening meals delivered for weekends, are frozen and must be heated by recipients.
Summing up the service, the Estuary Council’s Nutrition Coordinator, Peggy Barrett, says, “We serve two meals a day, seven days a week, for every person who is a part of this program.”
Hundreds of “Meals on Wheels” Are Delivered
All of the meals delivered under this program are prepared at the Estuary Council’s well equipped kitchen in Old Saybrook. Supervising the entire food preparation operation is Stuart Tedesco, Food Service Manager/Chef of the Estuary Council of Seniors.
Tedesco says that the “Meals on Wheels” service is, “the best kept secret in the area … we still serve good tasting quality food for $3.00,” she says.
The totals of the number of “Meals on Wheels” delivered by the Estuary Council is impressive. On a single weekday, according to Nutrition Coordinator Barrett, 141 “hot” noon meals will be delivered by Council volunteers to needy seniors. These “hot” lunches are served to the previously noted member towns, as well to seniors in the non-member town of Madison.
Early morning packers of “Meals on Wheels, Ted Pigeon and Scotty Pepe
In addition to the delivery of “hot” meals at noon on weekdays, the Estuary Council also delivers to entitled seniors weekday evening meals, and noon and evening meals on the two days of the weekend. However, these meals are frozen and must be defrosted by the recipient.
The meals to be distributed are first put together each weekday morning from a pool of 20 volunteer packers. Then, from a pool of 70 volunteer drivers, the meals are personally delivered to the homes of the seniors who are a part of the program.
“Meals on Wheels” volunteer, Katharina Youll making a delivery
Other Programs for Seniors at Estuary Council
In addition to the “Meals on Wheels” program, there are a host of other programs, offered by the Estuary Council of Seniors, which deserve mention. Among them are the Café lunches, which are offered every weekday in the Estuary Counsel’s main dining room. One special feature of the Café lunches is that before the meal those attending stand and recite the Pledge Allegiance to the Flag. (The words are listed below.)
Also, there is a thriving thrift shop on the lower floor of the Estuary Council’s main building, which has racks of women and men’s apparel as well exquisite place settings and literally racks of sportswear.
The Estuary Council also has a Medical Transportation service that takes seniors to their medical appointments, either at doctors’ or dentists’ offices, or to medical facilities, such as Hartford Hospital and Yale/ New Haven Hospital. Round trips for medical appointments taking less than five hours have a suggest donation of $35. For trips over five hours the suggested donation is $70.
There are also a staggering number of special programs, which take place at the Council’s Old Saybrook headquarters. They range from free health check-ups to senior physical fitness classes, and from Yoga classes to the meetings of the Quilt Club.
Meals delivered (left to right) Katharina Youll and recipients Ann and Thomas Perrone