OAK CREEK, Wis — Hundreds of volunteers across southeastern Wisconsin spent time on Easter Sunday making sure seniors received a hot meal.
It’s an initiative that was led by Community Projects for Seniors to cook, package, and deliver thousands of meals for seniors living in low-income subsidized apartments across eight counties.
Ellie Kuhlmann said she started volunteering with the group with her grandparents when she was just a kid but has kept up the tradition years later with her boyfriend.
“I just hope that today when we deliver meals it makes them feel less lonely,” Kuhlmann said, “and reassures that there are people that care for them and are here to support them.”
Before heading to New Berlin with her deliveries, Kuhlmann picked up several trays of food at Oak Creek East Middle School. There roughly 170 volunteers packaged meals of glazed ham, mac & cheese, green beans, and more.
It’s community service volunteer Rachel Reger said she’s been doing for almost a decade with her mother.
“We enjoy it every year,” she said. “It’s really grown on us and all of the service work we’ve done.”
It’s that kind of dedication to helping others that mom Lynn Raines, volunteering in Milwaukee, wants to instill in her children.
Sunday she, her husband, and their two daughters were among almost 200 volunteers going door to door, offering a hot meal and a kind word.
“It’s so important that children remember that they should be community-minded at all times,” she said. “I think that that’s one of the greatest gifts that we can give our children."
Raines said she’s hoping for her kids, like with Kuhlmann and Reger, the day's experience will be one they won’t forget.
Community Projects has been supporting the elderly since 1986. Sunday roughly 320 volunteers help get 4,498 meals to seniors in 50 cities.
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